


At Home On The Ice

by JacksonCalico



Series: On The Ice [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Hockey AU, Ice Hockey AU, Plot? She might exist, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, and we accidentally punched each others teeth in, haha just kidding..., unless, what if we were hockey rivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22838278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JacksonCalico/pseuds/JacksonCalico
Summary: Blake and Yang are rival hockey players that get traded onto the same team.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: On The Ice [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644772
Comments: 39
Kudos: 328





	At Home On The Ice

**Author's Note:**

> hi welcome to my pride and joy
> 
> long story short, last month I saw a bunch of people on tumblr wistfully wishing for a bumbleby hockey au so I went and made one because I love hockey bees
> 
> Shout out to lesseethroughdaphneblue on tumblr for sending me hockey articles and salmonela-crunch on tumblr for being my bro and teaching me about hockey while also letting me sapphic scream in her dms
> 
> this fic is for her and her alone

Ice.

Smooth and hard, cold and unforgiving, carefully frozen to become a battleground for the means of athleticism and entertainment. 

To most, the rink was a battlefield, but to Yang, it was home.

The sound of skates gliding across its surface, the sharp crack of a stick suddenly hitting the ice, the pure rush of adrenaline at the sight of a puck sliding towards a net. 

It was familiar, comforting, _unchanging_. 

It's what made the rink home. 

Yang had been skating for as long as she could remember, since she was a small child barely able to find her own balance on the ice, relying on the reassuring embrace of a parent to guide her across its surface. 

Summer Rose had been a hockey player in her youth, as graceful on the ice as she was beautiful, and Taiyang Xiao Long was an old retired hockey player himself, so it was no surprise that their young daughters followed in their footsteps. 

Yang had insisted on learning to play hockey by the time she was four, and when she was finally old enough to hold a stick properly, she joined a youth hockey team. Two years later, Ruby joined her. 

Summer had gone to every one of their games, an everlasting presence in the stands, cheering them on even if they lost, supporting them till the very end. 

Yang had grown up playing hockey, always on the ice with a stick in her hands and a helmet on her head. 

But then Summer died, and the rink _changed_. 

It was a long time before Yang and Ruby could return to the ice, a place that held too many memories of a comforting hand on their shoulders, of a carefree laugh that they would never hear again. 

Those first couple months, they’d look toward the stands and expect her to be there, shouting their names and wearing her old hockey jersey. It would be another year or two before those memories became less painful and they could look at the stands without feeling an overpowering sense of grief for the mother that was taken from them too soon.

Summer had always loved watching them play, so they kept playing, for her. 

And life on the rink went back to normal, as if it had never been changed in the first place.

Yang remained on the ice throughout high school, stayed there playing the game that she had grown to love, and when it came time for her to leave for college, hockey left with her. 

Summer had been a former player of the Beacon Wyverns, one of Vale’s best ice hockey teams, and so Yang decided that was her goal. 

Become a Wyvern.

She had gotten good enough to receive an athletic scholarship, joined her college’s hockey team, and kept playing, her dream of playing on her mother’s old team seeming so much closer to reality than she had ever thought it would be.

Until she lost her arm when she was nineteen, and she thought she would never return to the rink again because it had once again gone and _changed_ on her.

But then Yang found Summer’s old Wyvern jersey in the attic of her childhood home, and all of her old dreams were renewed. She had to keep playing, for Summer, and for herself. 

So Yang returned to the ice, armed with a new prosthetic limb and determined to succeed. 

And she got good, really good, good enough to be signed with the Signal Ursai upon graduation, just one step closer to the Wyverns. 

Ruby, surprisingly enough, got recruited onto the same team a year later, having graduated college early, and it felt like old times again, only with one less Rose to cheer them on. 

Three seasons later, Yang’s dream came true, and she and Ruby were traded to the Beacon Wyverns, now bearing jerseys so similar to the one Summer Rose had worn so many years ago. 

Yang had spent the last twenty-three years of her life on the ice playing hockey, and so the rink had become her home away from home. A home she could always come back to when things got hard.

“Yang!” A voice called out. “Are you coming?”

Yang turned her head at the sound of her name, locking eyes with Ruby, standing at the edge of the rink, waiting for her. 

Yang nodded, tightening her grip ever so slightly on her stick, slowly skating over to her sister. 

“What were you doing?” Ruby asked as Yang stopped beside her.

Yang turned her head and cast one final look at the rink as they left. 

“Just thinking.”

\--

“Who are we playing next, Pyrrha?”

Yang lifted her head up and looked over at Pyrrha Nikos, captain of the Beacon Wyverns.

The red-haired woman shrugged her practice jersey over her head, looking up and away from her locker to address the team. 

“Our next game is on Tuesday,” She said, glancing at Yang slightly out of the corner of her eye. “Against the Haven Lions.”

Yang sighed, pointedly ignoring the glances some of her teammates gave her, well aware of what their stares meant.

The Haven Lions were one of the Beacon Wyverns’ fiercest rivals. The Lions and the Wyverns had declared themselves rivals long before Yang joined the team, and as intense as their games were against Mistral's best team, Yang had her own little rivalry going on with one of Haven’s players. 

The Haven Lions’ top-scoring forward, #09, Blake Belladonna.

\--

No one really knew exactly how Blake and Yang became rivals. 

All they know is that it happened during Yang’s first game as a Wyvern against the Lions’. Yang was a hot-headed defenseman eager to play a game against her team’s infamous rivals, and Blake was a rather persistent forward who always managed to slip past their defenses no matter what they did. 

Maybe that’s why they became rivals. Blake Belladonna was one of the best forwards in the league, a cocky center who could get past the other team’s players easily and score goals quicker than they could even realize she had the puck. 

She was quick, unassuming, and a pain in the ass. 

Beacon’s assistant coach, Glynda Goodwitch, had given Yang the task of keeping an eye on #09, told her to try to stop Belladonna from scoring. 

Yang tried her best to do just that, but #09 still managed to score two points before the game was over, winning the game for the Lions, and solidifying herself as a player Yang was definitely going to keep an eye on from here on out.

Belladonna may have scored, but it appears that Yang’s efforts made a lasting impression, because the pair ended up starting a little friendly rivalry over the next few games their teams played against each other. 

Maybe they became rivals because Blake liked the challenge, or because she just liked how Yang played and it interested her. 

Maybe it was because Yang actually treated her with respect, like Blake deserved to be on the ice with the rest of them, so different from other players she had gone against before. 

There were a lot of people who thought that a faunus didn't belong on the ice, but Yang wasn't one of them.

That first game left such a lasting impression on her that she saw Yang as the only player fit to be her rival.

They were friendly rivals, there wasn’t an ounce of malice or hate between them. Just a pair of players who liked the competition the other brought. 

While they never failed to frustrate each other whenever they played, not once, over any of the games they had played against each other, had they fought. 

There was something about Blake that made Yang not want to fight her, and as frustrating as the center could be, the mere thought of fighting her just felt _wrong_.

Blake couldn’t bring herself to fight Yang because Yang was _different_ , and she feared that if punches were thrown that would all change, and Yang would turn out to be just like all those other players who looked down on her, that it would turn into an excuse for Yang to hate her.

So they never fought. 

Just mild, playful, aggression, taunts and insults, but never fighting. 

Until the most recent game the Lions played against the Wyverns. 

\--

“Yang?”

Yang adjusted her prosthetic sleeve and glove, double-checking that the soft material was on properly. “Yeah, Pyrrha?”

Pyrrha placed a hand on Yang’s shoulder, sighing. “I know that you and Belladonna don’t get along, but try not to let her get on your nerves too much. Glynda’s serious about trying to keep you out of the penalty box for the rest of this season.”

Yang shrugged Pyrrha off, giving the captain her best attempt at a reassuring smile. “Relax Pyrrha, I’ll try to behave, but I can’t promise anything.”

Pyrrha shook her head, but smiled anyway. “That’s the best I’m going to get out of you, isn’t it.”

Yang grinned at her, grabbing her helmet. “Yep!” 

“Good enough.”

Yang laughed and followed Pyrrha out of the locker room.

If only she knew that this was the game she would get into a fight with the notorious #09. 

\--

“Belladonna.”

“Xiao Long.”

Yang rolled her eyes at Blake, watching the other player carefully as she skated past Yang to join Ruby at the center circle, waiting for the puck drop, and the start of the game. 

Blake Belladonna never failed to get on Yang’s nerves whenever they played, and Yang knew that this game would be no different because Blake had the usual mischievous look in her eyes.

She just didn’t know that she’d leave this game completely shaken to her core, and that it would all be because of the Lions’ most elusive player. 

\--

Blake let out a small grunt when Yang checked her into the boards a couple of minutes later, and Yang can’t help but grin cockily when she saw golden eyes narrow.

Her triumph is short-lived, however, because Blake quickly passes the puck to one of her teammates, slipping out from between Yang and the boards and back towards the game.

One day, one game, she would best Belladonna, or at least take her down with her. 

\--

It happens in the second period. 

Blake had already managed to score a point for her team, and Yang’s patience with her was starting to run thin. Pyrrha had given her one final warning just before they started, but it wasn’t enough.

Near the end of the second period, Weiss manages to steal the puck away from one of the Lion players, but she doesn’t make it very far before that same player checked her against the board. It’s not that rough of a check, but Weiss is small for a hockey player, so it’s enough to make Yang snap and start a fight.

Yang’s gotten into plenty of fights while playing hockey before, it’s the reason she has the most minutes of the team in the penalty box.

Check one of her teammates too hard? Fight. Piss her off? Fight. So much as look at her goalie the wrong way? Fight. 

Yang’s been in a lot of fights, but never before, had she fought Blake Belladonna. 

Yang hadn’t even realized that it had been Blake who had checked Weiss until she had gotten close enough to see Belladonna sprawled on the back of her jersey, sees her player number under her last name, but she doesn’t back off even though she knows she should because _she can’t fight Blake_.

Yang fists her right hand into the front of Blake’s jersey, pushing the shorter player back into the boards, gloves already on the ice.

Surprised, quickly narrowing yellow eyes stared at her from behind the visor, and Blake’s helmet bumps against the glass slightly when her back hits the boards. 

Yang regrets it almost immediately, blood turning cold as a feeling of wrongness seeps into her bones, but she knows it’s too late to turn back. The fight had already started. 

And while Yang really doesn’t want to fight her, she’s not going to just stand there and take a hit.

Yang doesn’t remember which of them threw the first punch, knows she hesitated the moment she realized it was Blake, but she knows that it’s one of hers that knocks Blake’s helmet loose and off her head.

Blake’s cat ears are pinned back against her head in agitation, and her grip on Yang’s jersey tightens as she rears a fist back.

Yang knows she should probably prepare to take the punch, should probably move to stop the fight from continuing because Blake’s not wearing a helmet anymore, but she’s frozen in place. She desperately wants to stop the fight but _she can’t_.

No one had told her that Blake Belladonna was going to be the most beautiful woman she had ever laid her eyes on. 

Long black hair pulled into a low ponytail, little curls escaping from the hairband to frame her sharp jawline, deep golden eyes that Yang could see every detail in now that there was nothing hiding them. 

She was pretty, _really pretty_. 

But those eyes were filled with an emotion that Yang’s never seen before, and that alone should have been able to snap her out of her daze but it _doesn’t_.

Blake’s so gorgeous, so pretty that Yang’s brain instantly blanks and all she can do is watch as a fist comes towards her and collides with the side of her face. 

\--

Yang’s glad that Pyrrha had come up behind her, because if her captain hadn’t been there, she definitely would have fallen and hit the ice. 

Today, Yang learned two things. 

One, Blake Belladonna was very attractive. 

Two, she threw one helluva punch.

Searing pain skyrockets in Yang’s lower jaw as Blake’s grip on her jersey loosens and she falls back against Pyrrha, hand immediately coming up to cradle her chin. 

Yang’s barely aware of her teammates pulling her away from Blake, of Blake’s own teammates dragging her away from the boards, of Pyrrha removing Yang's helmet and her own gloves to get a better look at the blonde's face, to make sure she’s okay.

The dull aching in her jaw is slowly starting to spike and subside as Pyrrha carefully lifts her chin up to check her face, batting away her hand and ignoring Yang’s hiss of pain at the contact. 

“You’re fine,” Pyrrha says to her after a moment, pulling her hand away to slip her glove back on and rub at her temples. “Gods Yang did you really have to start a fight with her…”

Yang doesn't respond, raising a hand to press against the quickly bruising skin on her jaw, gritting her teeth at the slight pain the action brought.

Yang’s not surprised when the refs decide to penalize her and Blake for fighting, and while she faintly feels pleased with bringing Blake to the box with her, her guilt and regret is overwhelming.

It's a strange sight to see Blake skating over the penalty box, looking eerily out of place as she enters. Yang’s never seen the Lions’ #09 get a penalty. 

The off-ice official in the box doesn’t say a word to Yang as he holds open the door for her, motioning for her to sit down on the bench, but Yang’s been in the penalty box enough times to know the drill by now. 

Yang glances over at Blake, watching the other woman pull her helmet back on carefully, ears pressing back against her head as the protective gear slips securely over them, and Yang faintly wonders if Blake’s ears were hurt when her helmet fell off. There’s a pensive look on her face as she leans back against the box wall and tilts her head back to stare up at the jumbotron.

Yang’s still nursing the bruise on her chin by the time her penalty ends and she’s let back out onto the ice, reluctantly rejoining her team to play out the last minutes of the period. It’ll hurt like a bitch in the morning, but for now, Yang’s just glad Blake didn’t knock a tooth out from the strength of her punch. 

Pyrrha had asked Yang to get along with Blake Belladonna, but after that fight, Yang’s not so sure if she can even try to do that anymore, she doesn’t even know if she’ll be able to look at Blake ever again without thinking about molten amber and a swift blow to the jaw. 

Getting along with Blake Belladonna, Yang decided, was a lost cause. 

\--

Yang manages to catch Blake right before she enters the Lions’ locker room. 

“Did I hurt them?” Yang says, breathless from running, heart pounding in her chest, overwhelmed with guilt. She knows faunus traits are sensitive, had played on a team long enough with Velvet to know that, and if she hurt Blake by knocking her helmet off she’ll never forgive herself.

Blake gives her a confused look, cocking her head to the side slightly, brows furrowing. 

“Your ears. Did I hurt them when your helmet fell off?”

Blake’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline, golden eyes wide. The ears in question twitch on top of her head, tilting back slightly. 

Yang instantly relaxes when Blake slowly shakes her head, letting out a sigh of relief. 

She faintly hears Pyrrha calling her name, and she steps back to leave. 

“I’m sorry.” Yang says, turning around and leaving, not at all noticing the way Blake’s ears shoot up, the way her face softens, eyes widening in aw, unaware that their brief interaction had been the first time another player had cared enough about Blake to ask if she was okay. 

Yang is completely oblivious to just how much her genuine concern meant to Blake. 

\--

They may have lost the game against the Lions, but Yang can’t bring herself to be all that upset. 

“How’s your jaw?” Ruby asks when they’re in the locker room, reaching a hand up to graze the bruised skin. “That was a pretty hard hit.”

“I’m fine,” Yang said, grabbing Ruby’s wrist to gently guide it away from her face. “She just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

“Surprise?” Nora says, pulling off her padding, shooting her an incredulous look. “You’re the one who started the fight.”

Yang shrugged, ignoring the flush forming on her cheeks as Blake’s face flashed in her mind. “I didn’t expect her helmet to fall off.”

Yang relaxes when they drop the subject, sighing in relief as they continue to strip themselves of their gear, and she lifts her hand to brush her fingers against her jaw.

As pretty as she was, Blake was still her rival, still a player on a different team, but Yang’s still so shaken from their fight on the ice, and she has no idea what to do. She couldn’t let what happened today affect her too badly, she just couldn’t.

That had been their last game with the Lions for the season, and she can’t help but be glad that she won’t have to play against Blake for a couple of months. 

Blake could throw a mean punch, and Yang wasn’t so sure if she ever wanted to be on the other end of it again.

\--

It's near the end of the off-season before Yang hears about Blake Belladonna again, but not in the way she ever thought she would. 

“She what?” Yang said, looking over Ruby’s shoulder at her phone, disbelief clear in her voice. 

“The Lions traded her.” Ruby hummed thoughtfully, before turning off her phone and slipping it back into her pocket. “It doesn’t say who she’s with now though. I wonder who got her.”

Yang stretched her arms over her head, grunting. “We’ll find out soon enough. Practices will be starting back up in a week or two.”

Blake Belladonna, a top-scoring forward, leaving the Lions, one of the best teams in the league.

What could have happened to make the Lions trade her away?

\--

The thought keeps Yang awake later that night, thinking long and hard about her attractive rival and the team she used to belong to. 

Blake had always been a good player, one of the best in the league, but last season, Yang couldn’t help but notice, had been the worst one yet in her career, and Yang can’t help but be concerned about her fellow player. 

She looks up highlights from some of the Lions games over the previous season, skips over her fight with her because _even watching it feels wrong_ , and finally realizes something.

Blake had long weeks of less than favorable performances, periods of no scoring, decreased time on the ice, an increase in penalties. 

Blake hadn’t been playing as well as she had been in previous seasons, and it seems that it was only a matter of time before the Lions tried to trade her away. 

Her fight with Yang had simply been the final straw they needed to go through with it. 

\--

Yang wakes up a couple days later to a text from Pyrrha.

**Wyverns**  
**7:43 am**

**Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Hey guys

 **Thunder Thighs**  
what

 **Ice Queen**  
Yes?  
Who changed my name again?

 **Dad**  
no one  
wait why am I dad

 **Thunder Thighs**  
cause yang your our dad

 **Ice Queen**  
*You’re

 **Thunder Thighs**  
pyrrha's our mom cause she's the captain  
so your our dad cause your the assistant captain  
shut up weiss

 **Dad**  
wait 

**(Dad has changed their name to Daddy)**

**Daddy**  
fixed it

 **Ice Queen**  
No.

 **Thunder Thighs**  
literally get the fuck out right now   
deadass

 **Little Red**  
Pyrrha what’s up

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Where are Coco and Velvet

 **Daddy**  
probably making out   
you know how they are  
they can read this later

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Ok  
We’ve got a new player on the team

 **Thunder Thighs**  
nice

 **Ice Queen**  
Trade?

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Yeah  
I wanted to tell you guys before I added her to the group chat

 **Daddy**  
wait

 **Thunder Thighs**  
who is it

 **Ice Queen**  
What team?

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
The Haven Lions 

**Little Red**  
uh oh

 **Thunder Thighs**  
what's wrong

 **Little Red**  
I think I know who it is  
I read something a couple weeks ago about a player leaving the Lions  
It’s her, isn’t it

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Yep

 **Ice Queen**  
Who?

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Blake Belladonna

Looks like Yang was going to have to get along with Blake Belladonna whether she liked it or not.

\--

**Pyrrha Nikos**  
**8:03 am**

**Pyrrha**  
Yang?

 **Yang**  
what

 **Pyrrha**  
Are you okay?  
You stopped talking on the group chat

 **Yang**  
It’s nothing  
I’m fine  
So Belladonna’s on our team now?

 **Pyrrha**  
Yeah…  
It’s been a rough couple of months for her  
Please Yang, try to get along with her when practices start  
For me, or at the very least for the team

 **Yang**  
you say that like i hate her

 **Pyrrha**  
Yang

 **Yang**  
I promise Pyrrha  
I'm fine

 **Pyrrha**  
Ok  
You’re going to be her assistant captain  
Please be nice to her  
She already has so much going on

 **Yang**  
ok Pyr  
I promise

\--

When Blake gets added to the group chat a couple of hours later, Nora instantly changes her name in the chat.

**Wyverns**  
**1:28 pm**

**the girl that punched our dad**  
Is this really necessary

 **Thunder Thighs**  
yes  
everyone has to have a nickname in the chat  
even weiss has one  
she keeps trying to change it back but we won’t let her

 **Ice Queen**  
Can I request a change?

 **Daddy**  
no 

**Ice Queen**  
Can we at least change Yang’s?

 **Thunder Thighs**  
yes

 **Little Red**  
Please

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Do it

 **Daddy**  
wait

**(Thunder Thighs has changed Daddy’s name to feral dumbass)**

**feral dumbass**  
nora 

**Thunder Thighs**  
what

 **feral dumbass**  
why  
why would you do this to me

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
It suits you

 **Little Red**  
Hi Coco

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
Hi Ruby  
Velvet’s here too  
Hey Belladonna?

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
Yes?

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
Ready for initiation

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Coco no  
We’re not doing initiation 

**once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
You’re no fun

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Just got word from coach  
Practice starts on Monday  
Yang, please don’t hang up the sign

 **Thunder Thighs**  
come on pyrrha it's harmless

 **feral dumbass**  
you can’t stop me 

\--

The weekend passes by quickly and before Yang knows it, it’s Monday, and the first day of practice. 

Coco and Velvet are already in the lounge when she arrives, making coffee quietly in the kitchen, watching their ancient coffee maker struggle to do the task it was made for. Velvet’s sprawled out on one of the couches, looking half asleep and reading something on her phone.

“We really need to get this thing replaced.” Coco said, glaring at the machine. “If I have to spend another season waiting fifteen minutes for coffee, I’m going to lose it.”

Yang laughed, slipping her bag onto one of the chairs at the table. “You could always bring it up with Pyrrha.”

Coco rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. “You know how fond she is of this old thing. The Wyverns have had it for years. It’d be like throwing out her baby.”

Ruby appeared beside them, yawning loudly, dropping her bag onto the floor unceremoniously. “Are we talking about the coffee maker again?”

“When are we not?” Velvet says sleepily, turning her phone off and slipping it into her pocket. 

“Don’t let Weiss find out you guys hate it. She loves that thing just as much as Pyrrha.” Ruby said, leaning heavily into Yang’s side. “Is anyone else here yet?”

“Nope,” Yang said, ruffling her sister’s hair. “Just us, which makes this the perfect time to hang the sign back up.”

Ruby groaned loudly, flopping down onto one of the unoccupied chairs at the table, watching Yang slip the old street sign out of her bag. “Do you really have to do this?”

“It’s tradition Ruby. We can’t be the Wyverns without our special sign.”

Coco laughed, stepping away from the counter to grab a mug after the coffee finally finished brewing. “You and Nora only stole that sign two years ago. I’m pretty sure we can be the Wyverns without it.”

“It’s sacred.”

Nora took it upon herself to walk through the door at that very moment, a wide grin on her face. “Where are we putting it this year, Xiao Long?”

“I was thinking on top of the fridge,” Yang said, passing Nora the green street sign. “That way Weiss can’t get it down even if she tried.”

Nora laughed, and Yang wrapped her arms around the shorter girl’s waist, easily lifting her up. Nora precariously placed the sign on top of the fridge, securing it safely between the fridge and a row of overhanging cabinets. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” An exasperated voice from behind them said. 

Yang dropped Nora back onto the ground, turning around to face Weiss. “Come on Weiss, it’s just a sign.”

“A sign you stole, and brought here, to your place of work. Pyrrha told you guys not to put it up.” Weiss said, crossing her arms and craning her head up to look at the sign. 

It was a normal street sign, green with white letters, holes in the corners from where it had been screwed onto a pole, taken in the middle of the night by a pair of rowdy hockey players.

Yang and Nora had stolen it right off of the street, drunk off their asses and bored out of their minds. No one knows how they managed to get it down without any tools or without getting caught. They’d simply appeared at practice one day, wearing matching proud grins, vaguely hungover, and holding the green sign between them.

“It literally says Gay St. Weiss. Did you expect me not to take it?” Yang said, accepting a mug of coffee from Coco. “It was my right as a gay citizen of this city.”

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.”

“Shut the hell up Weiss.”

The sound of a pair of footsteps approaching silenced the group, and Weiss disappeared around the corner to greet their captain. 

“They hung it up again, Pyrrha.”

The red-haired captain sighed, appearing at the entrance of the lounge, eyes sweeping over the members of her team before locking on the sign on the top of the fridge.

Pyrrha shook her head, but her smile betrayed any annoyance she may have had. “Way to make a good first impression guys.”

Pyrrha glanced behind herself and stepped aside, revealing the Beacon Wyverns’ newest player. Yang felt her breath hitch in her throat as she laid eyes upon her rival for the first time in almost five months. 

Blake had gotten her hair cut since the last time she’d seen her, her long black hair now resting delicately around her chin, framing her jaw and face perfectly, and those golden eyes were just as beautiful as she remembered. 

Blake Belladonna was still stupidly, unfairly attractive. 

Yang hung back while the rest of her teammates trickled forward to welcome Blake to the team, doing her best to ignore the way Pyrrha was staring at her and the nervous energy bubbling in her veins. 

All these months later, her fight with Blake was still affecting her, and Yang wasn’t sure if she was ready to face her yet. 

One fight, one impulsive decision, had stolen all of her confidence, wounded her pride, left her uneasy and jittery and filled with shame that she didn’t know how to explain. 

Eventually, the team left for the locker room, leaving Blake, Pyrrha, and Yang remaining there, standing awkwardly in the lounge. Pyrrha gave them both a nervous smile, before disappearing back down the hall to join the rest of the team.

“Belladonna.”

Yang slipped her prosthetic hand out of her hoodie pocket, placing her now empty mug down on the counter and making her way over to the faunus. 

Blake was shorter than Yang by an inch or two, and Yang had to tilt her head down slightly to look at her.

It was the first time Yang had ever met Blake off of the ice and out of their gear.

“Xiao Long.”

Fuck, Yang had never heard her speak clearly before, her voice having always been muffled by a mouthguard and the sound of sticks and skates moving across ice. 

Even her voice is pretty.

There’s a weird, uncomfortable energy around them, years of rivalry and a fight radiating in harsh, unbearable waves over the space between them. 

Yang hesitantly stuck her prosthetic hand out towards Blake, an uneasy smile on her face, vaguely wondering how Blake will react to the brightly painted metal limb. Most players in the league knew about it, but knowing about it and seeing it were two drastically different things. 

Blake doesn’t hesitate to accept her hand, staring her directly in the eyes, tenseness in her shoulders and her lips pulled into an anxious smile, waiting for Yang to speak first.

“Truce?” Yang is surprised at the lack of shakiness in her voice, so different from the nerves she’s currently feeling on the inside. 

Blake nods, slow but sure, tightening her grip on Yang’s hand. 

“Truce.”

\--

Blake’s new locker ends up being the one directly next to Yang’s.

The player who had inhabited that locker the previous season had retired (one of the two players missing from last year's roster, the other player having been traded to the Lions for Blake), leaving the locker open for whoever joined the team next, which just so happened to be Yang’s rival. 

Now, not only did Yang have to figure out how to undo almost three years of rivalry and their fight on the ice, but she had to do it while her very attractive rival got changed next to her. 

Yang forced her attention away from the faunus woman beside her, instead trying to focus on getting ready for practice. 

She ignores the way Blake’s eyes drift slightly to the special prosthetic sleeve she has to wear in order to play, instead trying to focus on making sure the material doesn’t get caught in the groves of her metal arm. 

Blake’s attention is pulled away from her arm by an enthusiastic Nora starting a conversation with her, leaving Yang to finish slipping her fingers through the attached glove of the prosthetic sleeve. 

Today was the Wyverns’ first day of practice for the new season, and she’d be damned if she let the tension between her and Blake get in the way of the team being successful.

\--

Ozpin was a weird man, the weirdest man any of the Wyverns had ever met.

But he was their coach, had been for many years, so they just had to learn to put up with his weirdness.

Blake, on the other hand, didn’t have nearly as much experience as the rest of the members of the team, and it showed. 

“What is he saying?” Blake whispered, leaning over into Ruby’s space, who simply shrugged and looked equally as confused.

“This is normally how practice goes.” Nora piped up. “He talks for a bit, none of us understand him, and then Glynda and Pyrrha take over.”

Yang watches the trio carefully from beside Weiss, who for once seemed virtually unbothered by the players talking beside her. 

Blake stood out from the rest of them, an old, well worn blue practice jersey hanging off her shoulders instead of the green ones her fellow forwards sported. 

“We ran out of practice jerseys for forwards that were in her size, and Pyrrha wanted her to wear something that fit her, so she brought a temporary one to wear for a couple of practices.” Coco whispered, and Yang jolted slightly, embarrassed at being caught staring, turning her head slightly to look at the other woman. “She should have one by next week.”

Yang hummed thoughtfully, giving the blue jersey another glance. It had Blake’s player number displayed on the back, a familiar 09 right under her last name, and a wolf logo on the front for a team that Yang couldn’t recognize. 

Blake looked up and their eyes locked together for a fraction of a second, and Yang snapped her gaze back over to Ozpin, ignoring the smirk that had no doubt sprouted on Blake’s face. 

Practice, it seems, was going to be much harder than normal.

\--

After warm-ups, the team plays a game of king of the ring. 

Seven players, seven pucks, one objective. Maintain control of your puck, and be the last player left in the center circle, the ring. If you lose control of your puck, you’re out of the game. It’s simple, easy, a game Yang remembers playing frequently during youth practices when she was younger.

But with Blake playing beside her, it’s suddenly so much more stressful than it should be.

Their rivalry flares the moment the game starts, and all she can think of is getting Blake’s puck away from her, knock it away and get her out of the game, and it’s clear that she and Blake are on the same page, because she’s doing the same. All their previous awkwardness and hesitation from before is gone.

The objective is to be the last one in the ring, but all Yang wants to do is stay in the ring longer than Blake. 

In retrospect, they probably should have been paying more attention to the rest of the team instead of each other, because Pyrrha appears out of nowhere and successfully knocks both of their pucks out of the ring while they’re distracted. 

“This is supposed to be about puck control, not beating each other.” Pyrrha said to them, a rare warning look in her eyes as she turned around and returned to the game. 

Yang couldn’t help but glance over at Blake out of the corner of her eye as the game continued, faintly relieved to see that Blake looked just as ashamed as she felt. 

They were supposed to be teammates. Their days of rivalry were over.

It was only the first day of practice, and although years of rivalry couldn’t disappear in just a few hours, they had to make an effort to get along, or the team was doomed.

The season started in less than two months. They had two months to get over whatever differences they had and learn to coexist. 

First day of practice, no progress made. Maybe tomorrow, they could start getting somewhere.

But right now, standing a couple feet apart on the ice, unable to look at each other, the future doesn’t look so bright. 

\--

Pyrrha pulls them aside afterward, and it doesn’t take a genius to know why.

“I know there's some lingering tension between you two,” She starts slowly, watching them carefully. “And I know this can’t be fixed in a day, but if we're going to be successful this season, you're going to have to learn to get along and work together.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry.”

Their sentences overlap each other’s, and Yang casts a sidelong glance at Blake, at the scared look in her eyes and the way she’s curling in on herself, thinks about the apology that just left her lips, and feels her heart sink. 

She faintly remembers the text messages Pyrrha sent her before Blake was added to the group chat, her captain’s first request for the two of them to get along when they became teammates. 

_‘It’s been a rough couple of months for her.’_

_‘She already has so much going on’_

“I know Pyr, we’ll fix this.” 

Blake looks over at her, and Yang swallows hard, forcing herself to maintain eye contact despite parts of her brain screaming at her to look away, to look away from those suddenly hopeful golden eyes.

“I promise.”

Yang wasn’t one to go back on her promises if she could help it. She’d learn to let go of their old rivalry, learn how to become teammates, learn how to help Blake feel at ease on the team.

She’d learn.

For herself, and for Blake.

\--

Pyrrha starts to pair them up for drills during practice, and it helps.

It’s so much easier to get used to being teammates when they have to pass the puck to each other, have to rely on each other to score points, have to learn how to work together after years of being on opposite sides of the ice. 

Blake’s a fantastic forward, Yang already knows this. She’s one of the best in the league, and Yang’s always respected that about her. 

It’s so much better being on the same team with her than being her enemy. 

That voice in the back of her head, the one that’s always been hyper-aware of Blake’s moments and how to counter them, slowly starts to fade and is replaced by one that tells her how to help Blake get the puck so she can score. 

They still have some moments of uneasiness, of those old feelings of frustration, but it’s getting better. No one expects them to fix their attitudes towards each other immediately, but it’s an improvement from before. 

Their relationship is nowhere near as good as others on the team, but it’s a step forward in the right direction.

All it takes is a little time, and while they still remember those old feelings towards each other, it’s starting to become a distant memory as things change for the better. 

\--

The problem with trying to get a forward and a defenseman to get along, was that more often than not, they practiced against each other. 

Yang’s job was to defend the goal, score if necessary, keep the puck away from their opponents and with her team, away from their net. 

Blake’s job was to score, to get past the other team’s defenses, to keep the puck long enough to make a shot. 

It’s these moments, when they’re against each other in practice, that their rivalry flares, and they start to get frustrated, they no longer want to be anywhere near each other, and their progress with each other almost slips into nothing. 

But they’re still learning, and those moments are starting to become more and more uncommon the longer pre-season goes on. 

It’s getting better, easier, to be on a team together. 

All they needed was a little time to understand each other better. 

Their positions make it hard for them to get along sometimes, but they’re working on it. 

\--

Glynda makes them do a passing drill one morning, and Pyrrha, as usual, pairs Yang up with Blake.

The goal of the drill was simple. Skate the length of the ice and continuously pass to the player you’re paired with, and whoever has the puck when they make it to the goal can make a shot. 

Yang could see Ruby and Weiss paired up on the opposite end of the rink, diagonal from them, waiting for Oz to drop the puck so they can go. 

Pyrrha and Glynda want the team to learn to get used to playing with Blake, which includes passing drills like this.

Glynda stood next to Yang, puck in hand, giving the pair of them a stern glare. 

“Behave.” Was all she said before dropping the puck in front of Yang.

Blake started to skate, and Yang followed, passing the puck to Blake, and accepting the pass that Blake sent back to her. 

Yang ends up having the puck when they make it to the far end, and Yang shoots, not at all surprised when Nora blocks it. 

They run through the drill a couple of more times, and Pyrrha and Glynda’s plan starts to work, because Yang does get used to passing to Blake, gets more used to playing with Blake instead of against her. 

It’s slow progress, but it’s nothing a little more time and effort won’t fix. 

\--

Yang was surprised early one morning by the sight of Blake making tea in the lounge.

Usually, it’s Coco and Velvet, or Weiss who gets there first, making coffee before practice, with their other team members trickling slowly behind them.

Blake had consistently been the last one there throughout pre-season practices, and that was only because she lived that farthest away, and it took her just a little bit longer to get to the rink.

So it’s surprising to see her standing by the stove, sifting through the box that contained the team’s meager tea supply, patiently waiting for a kettle to finish boiling her water, looking more tired and defeated than Yang’s ever seen her. 

Yang was momentarily surprised to learn that they had a kettle and tea, because the majority of the team were coffee drinkers, and she doesn’t remember ever seeing any of them drink tea. 

Blake, however, didn’t seem to share her team’s preference of beverage, if she had spent the time to find their old kettle and whatever tea bags they had in the kitchen.

One of Blake’s ears flicked back in her direction and she glanced back behind herself briefly, a nervous smile gracing her exhausted features. 

“Morning.” Yang greeted, letting her bag slip off of her shoulder and onto a chair. “You’re here early.”

“Well, so are you.” Blake shrugged, turning back to the stove when the kettle signaled that it was done boiling. “Want any tea?”

Yang didn’t really drink tea, would much rather prefer coffee right about now, but they were making progress, and Blake looked so tired. 

Besides, the tea was already made, and a cup wouldn’t hurt.

“Sure.”

\--

“Why is Weiss on the counter?”

Yang shrugged at Ruby's question, looking up from her phone to glance at the forward perched delicately upon the counter, before a sly grin formed on her face. “She likes to feel tall.”

Blake huffed out a laugh, a hand coming up to cover her quiet giggles, and shit even her laugh was pretty, and Yang smiled at her, face heating up.

Weiss glared fiercely at the both of them, slipping down from the counter and swiftly leaving, grumbling the entire way out of the lounge. “I’m not even the shortest player on the team…”

Blake smiled shyly at Yang, shaking her head. “You shouldn’t tease her so much. It’s only a matter of time before she finally snaps and kills us all.”

“It’ll be worth it.”

Blake rolled her eyes and focused her attention back onto her book, and Ruby grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, leaving the lounge to make her way back to the gym.

Yang gave Blake one final glance before looking back at her phone, smiling to herself.

That was the first time she’d ever heard Blake laugh, like a real legitimate laugh.

It wasn’t very often that Blake laughed, but Yang really wanted to hear it again.

\--

Pyrrha and Glynda decide to arrange a mock game one day during practice. 

Eight players, four on each team, one puck between them all. 

Yang, Blake, and Coco are on one team with Nora as their goalie, and Pyrrha snags Weiss and Ruby to join her and Velvet on the far end of the ice. 

Yang is almost positive that it's a deliberate set up, to see how she and Blake work together.

Pyrrha assigns Coco as their makeshift team captain, despite Yang being the assistant captain, and now she knows that Pyrrha made this team set up on purpose.

Coco will make sure that Blake and Yang get along, and Yang doesn't want to find out what she'll do if they don't.

"Alright, so we're at a slight disadvantage." Coco starts, watching Pyrrha talk to her 'team' on the opposite end of the ice. "Blake, you're our only forward so we're going to have to rely on you a little bit to get some points.”

Coco paused, taking another moment to survey their opponents. “Yang?”

“Yeah?”

“If given the chance, take Weiss out. She drank all of my coffee today and I want revenge.”

Nora laughed, hitting her fist against her palm, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “We’re gonna break their legs.”

Coco grins at Nora, then gestures between Blake and Yang. “You two are going to have to work together. I’ll help Nora defend the goal, Yang, I’m going to need you to assist Blake with scoring.”

Yang shared a glance with Blake, and they both nodded. 

Yang had a job to do, she had to help Blake score, had to make sure the puck stayed with her and away from the others, away from the net. 

This was a test, to see how much their relationship had improved over the course of a couple weeks. 

They were going to succeed, even if it was the last thing they did. 

\---------

As it turns out, when they’re not trying to be better than each other, Blake and Yang work well together. 

Really well together, actually. It’s a pleasant surprise, not unwelcomed in the slightest, and it’s the final push they both need to get closer, to overcome their differences, whatever they may have been in the first place. 

“Blake!”

Yang steals the puck from Pyrrha and sends it Blake’s way, internally cheering when the pass succeeds with ease. 

Blake slips between Weiss and Ruby, making her way towards the goal, towards Velvet. She shoots, and scores, and Yang punches her first into the air in excitement. 

Yang skates over to her and swiftly pulls her into a one-sided hug without even a hint of hesitation, a motion she’s down a hundred times before whenever they scored during a game.

Blake doesn’t seem to mind the contact at all, and she leans slightly into Yang’s side, arm slinking around her waist to return the hug.

Her heart is beating fast in her chest, face heating up at Blake's warm body presses into hers, and _fuck_ Yang’s brain stops functioning for a solid ten seconds.

Coco gives them both a thumbs up, and Pyrrha is smiling widely from beside Ruby. 

Their team wins the match 3-1, and Yang wraps an arm around Blake’s shoulders again in celebration, pulling the faunus close as Coco pats them on the back and Nora enthusiastically jumps in to join them. 

And standing there, watching Blake smile at whatever the hell Nora’s saying, Yang realizes that she doesn’t even remember why she and Blake were rivals in the first place.

This mock game, this pretend match, was all it took for them both to realize that they work better together as friends than as enemies. 

\--

**Wyverns**  
**2:28 pm**

**Ice Queen**  
Can we please take down the sign in the kitchen?

 **Thunder Thighs**  
no 

**feral dumbass**  
never

 **Ice Queen**  
Please. I hate it so much.

 **feral dumbass**  
weiss the more you complain the stronger and gayer i get

 **Ice Queen**  
What does that even mean?

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
It’s just a sign Weiss

 **feral dumbass**  
see blake gets it  
it’s literally just a sign weiss

 **Ice Queen**  
A sign that you stole.  
That’s illegal Yang.

 **feral dumbass**  
so   
be gay do crimes

 **Ice Queen**  
What?

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
Sometimes you just have to be gay and do crime  
Get with the program Weiss

 **Ice Queen**  
I hate you people so fucking much.

\--

**Wyverns**  
**10:13 am**

**Thunder Thighs**  
team hangout team hangout team hangout

 **Ice Queen**  
Excuse me?

 **Thunder Thighs**  
team hangout  
this friday after practice  
pyrrha already said it was okay

 **feral dumbass**  
hell yeah

 **Ice Queen**  
Why?

 **Thunder Thighs**  
we don’t need a reason to hang out weiss  
it'll be team bonding or some shit

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
I’ve already cleared my schedule  
This is mandatory

 **Little Red**  
Can I bring cookies

 **Ice Queen**  
Absolutely not.

 **feral dumbass**  
no

 **Thunder Thighs**  
yes

 **Little Red**  
Two negatives make a positive  
That’s two points for me  
I’m making cookies

 **feral dumbass**  
good to know you can do math ruby  
i’m proud of you

 **Ice Queen**  
Can you make oatmeal raisin?

 **Little Red**  
I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that so we can keep being friends  
This is your only warning

 **Ice Queen**  
I hate you guys. 

**feral dumbass**  
that’s funny I remember drunk you saying you loved us  
you can’t hide the truth from us weiss we can see right through you

 **Ice Queen**  
I can hate you and love you at the same time. 

**the girl that punched our dad**  
Someone take a screenshot Weiss just said she loves us

 **Ice Queen**  
You are all on thin ice.

 **feral dumbass**  
weird since the ice we usually skate on is almost an inch thick

 **Ice Queen**  
Get away from me.

\--

“Is there a reason you guys didn’t want Ruby to bring cookies?”

Yang shook her head at Blake’s question, shrugging. “Not really. She just has a slight problem. If anything she brought them for herself and we just get to have whatever she doesn’t eat.”

Blake hummed, ears flicking in the direction of the couch, where the rest of the team was fighting over what movie they should watch, a small, barely-there smile gracing her lips. They were in the kitchen, leaning against the marble countertop, as far as they could get from the argument occurring on the couch. 

Blake is so very different off of the ice than on it. 

She’s quieter, filled with doubt and uncertainty, the complete opposite of the player Yang had gotten so used to playing with.

Blake shifts uncomfortably, ears folding downwards. 

“Are you guys always like this?” She asks, a slightly nervous tone to her voice. 

Yang blinked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Are you guys always like, you know, a family? You all just seem to really…" A pause, a long painful pause. "Care about each other…"

Yang hated the disbelief in her voice, the way she made the very concept of the team being a family sound foreign, like she had never been on a team that cared about her as much as this one did.

"Yeah." Yang started slowly, watching Blake's face carefully. "We're a family, on and off the ice. We take care of each other, always have, and we always will."

Blake's ears are pressed against her scalp, her expression hopeful and longing.

"I… I think I'd like to be a part of this family… if you guys will have me…"

Yang felt her heart sink, and she pulled away from the counter, turning to face Blake.

Blake wasn't looking at her, keeping her eyes trained on the rest of the team, hands gripping tightly at her forearms.

"Blake…"

Blake swallowed thickly, turning her head to look at Yang.

She looked so nervous, so small, so much different from the player Yang had come to know, and Yang hated it.

"You… you know you're already a part of this family, right?" Yang said, lifting a hand to place gently on Blake's shoulder. "You're a Wyvern now, you're safe here, with us."

Blake nodded, and she raised one of her hands to grasp Yang’s, guiding it away from her shoulder and to their sides, hands clasped together in the space between them.

“Thank you…” She started, returning her focus back to their bickering teammates. “For letting me be a part of this team… I’m really glad that I came here.”

Yang squeezed her hand, gently tugging her over to the couch as the team finally came to an agreement and called them over.

Yang wrapped an arm around Blake’s shoulder when they settled down onto the couch, heart beating fast in her chest when Blake pressed closer into her side. 

As the movie started, Yang leaned down slightly, whispering into one of Blake’s ears. 

“We’re really happy that you’re here too, Blake.”

\--

Blake drifted off against her shoulder halfway through the movie, curled up into Yang’s side, breathing quiet and even.

Pyrrha elbowed Yang’s other side, smirking. “Getting along now, aren’t we?”

“Shut it, Nikos.”

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, smiling at them before returning her attention back to the movie. 

Blake mumbled something in her sleep, shifting slightly, and Yang tried to ignore the rapid pounding of her heart in her chest. 

It wasn’t every day a pretty girl fell asleep on her, but then again, other girls weren’t usually her former rival, who she had only just become friends with. 

But hey, the heart wants what the heart wants.

And her heart, for some reason, wanted Blake.

\--

The weight room was open to all players, so Yang really shouldn’t have been surprised to find Blake there. 

But alas, she is, and nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Blake in a loose tank top and yoga pants, quietly stretching on a mat in the far corner of the weight room, twisting her body in ways that surely should have been impossible and illegal.

Blake smiled at her, pausing in her stretch to give Yang a little wave that's way cuter than it should be, and Yang awkwardly waved back, internally screaming and hoping that Blake wouldn't comment on the brightness of her face.

Blake looked really good in that tank top.

Yang was glad when Nora joined them a few minutes later, her friendly competition offering a much-needed distraction from the very attractive faunus doing impossibly complicated stretches. 

May the gods have mercy on Yang’s poor, gay heart. 

\--

“God Yang, stop staring at her.”

Yang whips her head around, an unimpressed Weiss standing just behind her, green practice jersey standing out against the white of the ice. 

“I wasn’t staring at Blake.” Yang said, looking anywhere but Weiss’s face, thoroughly embarrassed. 

Weiss raised a pale eyebrow at her, and Yang broke, sighing, bringing a gloved hand up to rub at her face. 

“So maybe I was staring at her, what’s it to you.”

Weiss rolls her eyes, shaking her head, but there’s a small smile on her face. “You should tell her. It’s obvious that you like her.”

“Are you crazy!” Yang exclaimes, cringing slightly when everyone else on the ice turns to look at the pair. Weiss sends them all one of her signature scathing glares, and Yang would have laughed at the speed they all turned their heads away from them if she wasn’t currently in a slightly troubling predicament

“Yang I’m serious.” Weiss said, face softening. “You should tell her.”

“I…” Yang rubs the back of her neck nervously. “I don’t know Weiss... what if she doesn’t like me back?”

Weiss snorts, and Yang gives her an incredulous look. “Look Yang, it may not be so obvious to you, but we can all see that she likes you. You’re practically her favorite person on the team.”

Weiss places a comforting hand on Yang’s shoulder. “It wouldn't hurt to try Yang. You deserve a little bit of happiness every once and awhile.”

Yang shook her head, laughing weakly. “What has the world come to? Weiss Schnee is giving me relationship advice.”

Weiss glares at her, and Yang smiles. “Thanks Weiss, I’ll think about it.”

Weiss rolls her eyes playfully. “You better cherish this moment Xiao Long because it will never happen again.”

“Love you too, Weiss.”

\--

A couple of weeks later, they have their final practice of the preseason. 

They have their first official game the following week on Monday, against the Signal Ursai, and Glynda’s making sure to do everything she can to get them prepared. 

Which means practice is only a little harder than usual.

Yang leans against the side of the players’ bench, breathing heavily. Blake skates up beside her, taking her helmet off so she can lift the collar of her new green practice jersey to wipe her face. 

“You good?” Yang asks, and Blake nods, running a hand through her hair tiredly. 

Blake leans into her side slightly, hand coming up to grip Yang’s black practice jersey for balance as she reaches into the players’ bench to grab her water bottle. 

Glynda calls them back a couple of minutes later, and Yang has to bite back a sigh as she slips her helmet back onto her head.

“Thirty more minutes…” Blake mutters under her breath as she puts her mouthguard back in, and Yang laughs weakly, grabbing her stick and skating back over to Glynda.

To think that only a couple of weeks ago, they could barely even stand to be in the same room as each other.

Now Yang has a crush on her, and Blake’s seemingly more comfortable with her than anyone else on the team.

They’d already come so far in just the preseason alone, and now with an entire season ahead of them, how much closer could they get?

\--

They get to see their new jerseys for the season in the locker room after practice. 

The Wyverns have always had black and green jerseys, and this year didn’t bring any changes to their color scheme.

Yang held up her jersey in front of herself, smiling at the familiar sight of her player number, 03, on the back, the letter A in white on the front. 

She looked away from her jersey to survey the rest of the locker room, gaze dropping to the faunus seated on the bench next to her. 

It’s weird, seeing Blake’s name and number on the back of a Wyvern jersey, but she looks good in it, really good.

Her eyes are more prominent against the dark greens and blacks, a vibrant gold that stares back at Yang from under her black bangs, and she seems more content in their colors than she ever was with the Lions’.

So looks happier, on their team, and it’s something Yang’s never realized before. 

Blake had looked so much sadder when she was with Haven, like a bird trapped in a cage with broken wings. She'd looked so tired back then, and now, only a few months later, she looks alive, for what seems like the first time in years.

With Beacon, she looks so much happier, as if a huge weight has been lifted off of her shoulders and she finally has a chance to be free. 

Blake was a Wyvern now, and seeing her standing there, in their locker room, wearing their colors, a small smile on her face, made it all the more clearer.

\--

Glynda makes them get up at 6:30 in the morning on Sunday so they can get on a bus to go to the game.

“Why are we taking a bus?” Ruby yawned, leaning heavily onto Weiss’s shoulder. 

Weiss looked to Yang for help, discreetly trying to nudge Ruby off of her. Yang sighed and came to her aid, and Ruby immediately turned and collapsed into Yang. 

“Ruby, you used to play for Ursai. You, of all people, should know that their home rink is close enough to ours that we have to take the bus.”

Nora dropped her bag onto the ground and latched onto Yang’s other side. “But do we really have to get up this early? Our game isn’t until tomorrow.”

Pyrrha looks up from checking their gear. “Glynda wants us to be there early so we can get some more practice in.”

Nora groaned, sinking further into Yang, and Weiss rolled her eyes. “How are any of you professional athletes?”

Pyrrha laughed, shaking her head. “Who are we still waiting on?”

“Blake and the lovebirds.” A solid weight suddenly pressed into Yang’s back, and she heard a soft, familiar sigh. “Nevermind, just the lovebirds.”

Blake chuckled quietly behind her, pressing closer, and Yang turned her head slightly to look at the tired faunus. 

Blake’s ear flicked sleepily from on top of her head, and a golden eye peered at her from underneath black bangs, squinting against the light from the rising sun.

Yang smiled at her, blushing, before turning her head back around when a fourth weight pressed against her. “Not you too Weiss.”

Weiss glared at her, but didn’t pull away. “I’m cold, and you’re warm. Do the math.”

“Is there room for two more?”

Yang sighed when two more bodies joined the four already crowding around her. “Morning Velvet.”

“How come I don’t get a hello?”

“You don’t deserve it.”

Coco slugged Yang lightly in the shoulder, and the rest of the team mumbled protests when the action jostled them slightly from their spots. 

“Oh, are we having a group hug?”

Yang laughed, smiling when Pyrrha finally joined them, completing the impromptu team hug. “Are we all set to go, Pyrrha?”

“Almost, just waiting on Ozpin.”

“Are any of you going to let go of me?”

A resounding chorus of no’s sealed Yang’s fate. 

\--

Blake slipped into the seat next to her when they were finally on the bus a couple of minutes later.

“Tired?”

Blake nodded, curling up further into her seat. “Couldn’t sleep, my neighbor decided to have a party last night and he and his friend weren’t exactly quiet.”

Yang winced sympathetically and shifted in her seat. “It’s a two hour drive to Signal, you can sleep on my shoulder if you want.”

Blake blinked blearily up at her, a hopeful look in her eyes. “Really?”

“Yep,” Yang said, patting her shoulder. “I don’t mind. The others do it all the time.”

“Thank you.” Blake mumbled, dropping her head down onto Yang’s shoulder, sliding closer.

“No problem. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

Yang struggled to ignore the rising blush on her face, mentally congratulating herself on her smoothness as Blake slowly started to drift off, hands curling around Yang’s upper bicep, breathing quietly against her shoulder. 

Those two hours passed by way too quickly. 

\--

“Are you nervous?”

Yang looked over Ruby’s head at Nora, pausing to wait for Blake’s response to the goalie’s question.

“A little,” The faunus said, slipping her jersey over her head. “But wouldn’t you be too? It’s our first game of the season.”

“Nope.” Nora shook her head, pounding her fist against her palm. “We’re gonna break their legs.”

“What’s with you and breaking people’s legs?” Blake asked quietly, leaning away from the hyperactive redhead. 

“Sometimes I wonder what jail would be like. Mind your own business.”

Weiss shook her head, sighing loudly. “I swear this team is full of maniacs.”

“Name one other person, besides Nora, who wants to break someone’s leg.” Pyrrha said, pulling her gloves on. 

“Yang. She wouldn’t hesitate.”

“Rude.” Yang shouted over to them, appalled. “I would never. I swear Weiss you have no faith in me.”

“You spent over a hundred and fifty minutes in the penalty box last season because you couldn’t stop getting into fights.”

“Literally no one asked.”

\--

Glynda decides to put Nora, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Coco, and Ruby on the ice in the first period. 

The Ursai had one of the best defenses in the league, but their forwards were average at best, which meant the Wyverns had a slight advantage. 

Nora could keep the puck out of the net just fine on her own, but Coco and Yang were just as good as keeping it as far away from her as they possibly could. Blake, Weiss, and Ruby had been working together all of preseason to form a formidable line, and with Yang and Coco backing them up, their odds of scoring were high. 

This was their first game, the first official game they would play with Blake.

Even now, so early on in the season, they couldn’t afford to lose. 

\--

Ruby scores a point in the first five minutes of the first period.

She gets lucky, really lucky, manages to snatch the puck from one of the Ursai’s defensemen when they’re not looking and makes a shot at the goal almost the moment the puck touches her stick. 

Barely any of them see it happen, but that’s usually how Ruby’s shots go. She’s fast, and can make shots quicker than anyone can react, so it’s no surprise when the puck hits the back of the net before any of them can blink.

Yang throws an arm around her shoulders, grinning as the rest of the team on the ice skates over to join in their celly. 

Their first point of the game, of the season, scored by none of than her little sister. 

Summer would have been so proud.

\--

Blake scores another goal three minutes later. 

Yang steals the puck from one of the Ursai’s forwards, sees that Blake is open to accept a pass, and doesn’t even hesitate. 

The goalie had been so focused on Yang that she doesn’t even notice Blake making a shot until it’s too late. 

They’re less than ten minutes into the first game, and they’ve already scored two points. 

Blake’s grinning widely when Yang pulls her into a side hug and bumps their helmets together, looking more alive than Yang’s ever seen her, and Yang finally realizes something. 

The Blake that Yang remembers from previous seasons has returned. Cocky, confident, _happy_ Blake is back.

Blake had always seemed more at ease on the ice than off it during practice, but now, playing with her for the first time, Yang realizes that to Blake, the ice was safety, sanctuary. 

The ice was her home just as much as it was Yang’s.

\--

They won the game 3-2 in the third period, with Blake scoring the final point and Yang getting another assist for helping her.

When they finally get back home a couple hours later, Nora insists on going out for drinks to celebrate. 

“Really Nora?”

The redhead nods, bouncing on her feet in excitement, still full of energy despite the late hour and the game they’ve just played. 

Weiss gives her a scathing glare, and turns around without a second glance. “It’s 1 am Nora, I’m going home.”

The rest of the team mumbled in agreement, and promptly walked away from Nora.

“Guys! Wait!”

Yang chuckled, shaking her head. “Classic Nora.”

“Does she always do that?” Blake asked, sifting through her bag.

Yang nodded. “Yep, every time. She just wants an excuse to try to get Pyrrha and Weiss drunk.”

Blake laughed, pulling her hand out of her bag, revealing her car keys. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Blake asked, and Yang nodded, waving goodbye as Blake turned in the direction of her car and disappeared. 

“Yang, will you at least go out for drinks with me?”

“No way in hell Nora.”

  
\--

**Wyverns**  
**2:56 am**

**feral dumbass**  
i don’t have a girlfriend to cradle me at night and it makes me angry

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
Then die mad

 **Honey Bun**  
Coco

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
Yes sweetheart?

 **Honey Bun**  
Be nice  
She’s gay and pining

 **feral dumbass**  
i just want to be cradled  
is that too much to ask for

 **Ice Queen**  
Yang, it's 3 am.   
Go to bed.

 **feral dumbass**  
n o  
i will not sleep until i am being held in the arms of a strong beautiful woman  
i want to rest my head against her bosom and drift off to the sound of her heartbeat  
i want to be loved weiss

 **Ice Queen**  
I’ll buy you a coffee tomorrow morning from that place you like if you go to bed.

 **feral dumbass**  
goodnight

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
Wow Weiss you really do know your way into a woman’s heart

 **Ice Queen**  
Please go to sleep.

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
No

 **Honey Bun**  
Coco please stop antagonizing Weiss and come back to bed

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
bye weiss

 **Ice Queen**  
I hate this team.

\--

**Wyverns**  
**7:24 am**

**Thunder Thighs**  
y a ng  
holy shit  
why the fuck were you craving a girlfriend at 2:30 am

 **feral dumbass**  
sometimes i yearn for a gf in the middle of the night  
mind your own business

 **Ice Queen**  
You literally made it our business when you decided to text us.  
This is a work group chat.

 **feral dumbass**  
so

 **Ice Queen**  
Your inability to get a girlfriend isn’t work related. 

**feral dumbass**  
hey pyrrha can you make weiss stop bullying me

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Weiss stop bullying Yang  
Let her be gay in peace

 **feral dumbass**  
thank you pyrrha

**(the girl that punched our dad has changed feral dumbass’s name to useless lesbian)**

**useless lesbian**  
wow okay  
blake i thought we were friends

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
Perish

 **Thunder Thighs**  
wait hold on i have a better idea

**(Thunder Thighs has changed useless lesbian’s name to feral lesbian)**

**Thunder Thighs**  
gotta keep it on brand

 **feral lesbian**  
petition to get nora and blake kicked from the group chat

 **Ice Queen**  
Signed.

 **feral lesbian**  
friendship canceled with the wyverns  
weiss is my new best friend now

 **Ice Queen**  
Don’t push it.

\--

The Wyverns end up winning their next couple of games without much issue, and when Nora asks to go out for drinks after their fifth consecutive win, they actually agree. 

“Not drinking?”

Yang looked up from her phone as Blake slid onto the seat next to her, a water in hand. Yang lifted her arm and rested it on the back of Blake’s chair, turning her phone off and sliding it into her coat pocket.

"I don't normally drink when we go out. Someone has to keep the others from getting into trouble." Yang said, watching the group at the bar carefully.

Blake eyed the collection of keys on the table in front of her, smiling to herself. "I see you're also the designated driver."

"Velvet probably won't have too much to drink so she can take Coco home. I usually get stuck with Pyrrha and Weiss."

Blake shifted closer to Yang, their elbows knocking together slightly. "What about Ruby and Nora?"

"Ruby doesn't drink, and Nora already called Ren, her husband, to come pick her up later. When he gets here, that's usually when we all leave." Yang glanced over at the glass of water Blake currently had her fingers curled around. "I don't see you drinking either, Belladonna."

"I don't really drink a lot." One of Blake's ears flicked, and she smirked. "I figured it would be more worthwhile to see what Weiss is like drunk off her ass than to spend tonight drinking."

"Oh Belladonna, you're in for a real treat."

\--

"Are you gonna be okay?"

Yang flashed Blake a thumbs up, adjusting her arm around Weiss and helping her into the car next to Pyrrha, the two of them laughing together drunkenly in the back seat of her car. "Yep, just gotta get princess home before she passes out in my car. I'll see you at practice on Monday, right?"

Blake nodded, pulling her jacket more securely on her shoulders. "Good luck with Weiss. I'll see you later."

Yang smiled and waved as Blake turned around and walked to her car.

"Stop staring at her ass."

"Shut up Weiss, you're drunk."

“You didn’t deny it.”

“I will leave you here to die.”

\--

So far, Yang had been rather successful at staying out of the penalty box this season. 

She’d been getting into fewer fights, which made Pyrrha happy, and she had only been sent to the penalty box twice in the last ten games they played, which made Glynda happy.

“We need you out on the ice, not in the box.” Glynda reminded her right before a game, face stern.

“Yeah Yang stay out of the sin bin!”

They were going up against the Patch Beowolves, infamous for their strong forwards and defensemen. 

The Wyverns were going to need their defensemen at the top of their game, so keeping Yang out of the penalty box was a top priority. 

But sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned. 

The Beowolves had added a rather talented rookie defensemen to their starting lineup, and while they initially hadn’t been too worried about it, they did come across one slight problem halfway through the first period. 

The Beowolves’ new rookie had a temper, and she seemed dead set on taking it out on Blake. 

Yang is well aware of the frustration that Blake causes for defensemen, had played and lost against her several times to feel it herself in seasons past, but even she could admit that this was excessive. 

All Blake had done was score, nothing too out of the ordinary for hockey, literally the objective of the game, but that was all it took for the rookie to decide that she wanted Blake off the ice. 

It started slow, just a lot of checking and insults, but it escalated in the second period, when Blake steals the puck from right under the rookie’s nose, and Yang swears she’s never seen anyone so mad.

Those checks start to get rougher, harder, and it’s only a matter of time before it goes too far and Yang won’t be able to stop herself. Blake doesn’t deserve this, she’s never deserved treatment like this.

It leaves a bad taste in her mouth, creates a familiar strong urge to protect her teammate, to keep Blake safe. 

Glynda wants Yang on the ice, but she won’t stay there for much longer. 

“What’s her problem?” Pyrrha mutters to Yang, watching the rookie player visibly fume from across the ice. 

“Don’t know.”

Pyrrha gives Yang a side glance at the curtness of her tone, notices the tension in her shoulders and the tightening of her jaw. “Yang-”

“I know Pyr,” Yang cuts her off. “I know.”

“Believe me, Yang, I’m just as ready as you are to start something, but Glynda needs us on the ice.”

Yang swallows, grip turning harsh on her stick. “I swear to god if she hurts Blake all bets are off.”

Pyrrha returns her attention to the ref as he skates over to one of their zone’s face-off circle, puck in hand, giving Yang a final glance before skating over to her face-off position. 

The rookie places herself directly in front of Yang, eyes locked on Blake, not even paying attention to the player across from her, and Yang knows she won’t last much longer. 

She breaks three minutes later. 

Blake had seen the rookie coming her way and passed the puck to Weiss, but the rookie isn’t even looking at the puck, her eyes focused on a different target, and she checks Blake into the boards. 

_Hard._

Hard enough that Blake gasps quietly and raises a hand to clutch at her shoulder. It’s way harder than any check should be, and Yang can’t hold herself back anymore because _Blake is hurt._

The rookie had been looking for a fight all game, and she was going to get one, but not with who she thought it would be.

The Wyverns weren’t a team of fighters. Yang was the one who more often than not started fights, and Coco occasionally did, but besides that, the Wyverns did not fight. 

Yang could count on one hand the amount of times she had seen Pyrrha start a fight, and Ruby had done it once and immediately regretted it. Fights excited Nora, but the goalie had only been in a handful of fights throughout the entirety of her career, and the same went for Velvet and Weiss. 

The Wyverns weren’t fighters, and most players in the league already knew that, but the rookie didn’t seem to know as much as her peers did.

If the Beowolves’ rookie had expected Blake to fight, she’d be dead wrong, because Blake Belladonna didn’t fight.

But Yang sure as hell did. 

Yang pulls her left glove off and throws it onto the ice, and she distantly hears Glynda slamming her clipboard onto the floor of the player’s bench, barely audible over the increasing noise of the crowd as Yang grabs the rookie’s jersey and yanks. 

The rookie is momentarily startled by the sudden fist in her jersey, confusion clear in her eyes before she realizes what’s happening and takes her gloves off to join Yang’s on the ice. 

If it was a fight she wanted, it was a fight she was going to get.

\--

Yang and Pyrrha get penalized for fighting. 

Pyrrha had joined in the fight almost just as quickly as it started, and the linesman had broken it up soon after, and sent all participating players to the penalty box.

The Beowolves had a forward and a defenseman off of the ice, but the Wyverns had lost both of their defensemen.

“Glynda’s pissed.” Yang mumbled, looking out across the ice at their visibly fuming assistant coach.

“It was worth it.”

Yang bumped her captain’s shoulder with her own. “You won’t be saying that when she gets ahold of us in the locker room later.”

“That’s a problem for future Pyrrha. Present Pyrrha regrets nothing.”

“Well them present Yang doesn’t regret anything either.”

\--

“Are you okay?”

Yang watched through concerned eyes as Blake rubbed her shoulder, smoothing her hand over the large bruise that was forming on her skin. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bruise.” Blake said, dropping her hand. “Jaune said there was nothing to be worried about and that it’d be sore for a couple of days.”

Yang shifted awkwardly on her feet, and Blake gave her a curious look. ”What’s wrong?”

“Nothing... it’s just,” Yang paused, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry for fighting earlier. You can take care of yourself perfectly fine and we lost because of me.”

“Yang,” Blake said, shrugging her jacket on. “You got into that fight because you thought that I had gotten hurt and were trying to protect me. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Blake looked up at Yang’s eyes shyly. “It's actually kind of nice to know that you care about me that much. You’re sweet.”

“Of course I care about you.” Yang whispered, face bright red. “You’re my friend.”

Before Blake could say anything, an annoyed voice called out to them. “Yang, Blake! The bus is leaving soon!”

“Coming!”

Blake reached out and gently grabbed Yang’s prosthetic hand, and Yang let the shorter woman guide her out of the locker room. 

“What took you two so long?”

Blake brushed past Weiss, and Yang smiled apologetically at her as she led the way over to the bus, Weiss trailing tiredly behind them. 

Blake sat next to Yang on the bus again, curled up close to her side, head on her shoulder, laughing at whatever the hell they were looking on her phone.

Yang leaned her head against Blake’s, smiling softly at the joy and warmth in the faunus’s eyes, heart racing and pure happiness seeping into her veins. 

Yang couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this happy to just be sitting beside someone.

\--

**Wyverns**  
**3:42 pm**

**Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Is everyone free for an open skate next week

 **Little Red**  
!

 **feral lesbian**  
bold of you to assume i have a social life

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
I’m going to guess you two are free

 **Little Red**  
Of course!

 **feral lesbian**  
give me a date and time and i’ll be there

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
I was thinking Tuesday at 11  
Glynda already rented out an outdoor rink for us

 **Ice Queen**  
I can make it.

 **once killed a man for a cup of coffee**  
Me and Velvet will be there

 **Thunder Thighs**  
hell yeah

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
Tuesday?

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Yes  
Are you busy

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
I’ve got friends visiting from out of town next week

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
You can bring them if you want  
We don’t mind   
It’s an open skate, anyone is welcomed to join us

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
I’ll ask them but I can’t guarantee anything

 **Thunder Thighs**  
ren said he’d make pancakes

 **feral lesbian**  
oh to be a sad gay, left to my lonesome self

 **Ice Queen**  
Stop being dramatic.

**(feral lesbian has changed Ice Queen’s name to bitch)**

**Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
Yang be nice

 **feral lesbian**  
she started it

 **bitch**  
I most certainly did not.

 **Little Red**  
Penny’s coming :)

 **the girl that punched our dad**  
My friends can come

 **Mom Friend Pyrrha**  
I’ll send you the address later  
See you guys on Tuesday

\--

Most of the team was already there when Yang arrived early Tuesday morning.

The Wyverns always held at least one open skate for friends and family of the team during the season. They’d been doing it for years, since before any of the current Wyverns had joined the team.

Yang had never brought anyone with her to one, had never had a girlfriend or any close friends to accompany her, but she didn’t really mind coming alone most of the time. 

“Is Blake here yet?” Yang asked, and Pyrrha snorted, rolling her eyes.

“Not yet, calm down tiger. She’ll be here shortly.”

The sound of unfamiliar voices brought Yang’s attention away from Pyrrha, and Blake appeared, flanked by a blond man and a shorter woman. 

The blond man was wearing the same blue jersey that Blake had worn the first day of practice, and his long monkey tail was swishing happily behind him.

The woman was a lot more subdued than the blonde man in terms of demeanor, and she wore a simple black sweater and grey leggings, dark spots on her cheeks and face.

"Hey Blake, who're your friends?" Pyrrha asked, playfully bumping Yang's shoulder.

The blond man stepped forward eagerly, hand out, smile wide and easy. "I'm Sun, Sun Wukong."

Pyrrha accepted his hand, and the woman standing next to Blake waved at them nervously.

"I'm Ilia."

Sun leaned back and swung an arm around Blake. “Thanks for taking an interest in our Blake, she sucks at making friends.”

“No I don-”

“Yes, yes you do.” Ilia cut Blake off, resting her hand on her shoulder. 

Jaune took that very moment to stumble over to them, a toddler cradled in his arms. 

“Hey sorry to interrupt but is anyone good with kids?”

Yang sighed, reaching her arms out to accept the wriggling toddler from him. “I’ll take him.”

“Thanks Yang! I’ll be right back I promise.”

“Hey buddy.” Yang said, bouncing Adrian slightly in her arms, smiling at the awed look on his face. Yang shifted her grip on him so she could poke him in the cheek with a metal finger. “Did Saphron and Terra really trust Jaune to look after him today?”

Sun leaned over and cooed softly at the small boy as Pyrrha laughed. “They wanted Jaune to teach him how to skate.”

“Is anyone going to tell them that Jaune can’t skate?”

“I think it’s best if we don’t.”

\--

“I didn’t know you were so good with kids.”

Yang shrugged, leaning back against the railing beside Blake. “Ruby and I used to help dad with the younger kids when he coached youth hockey. We kind of got used to being around them."

“If you’re so good with teaching kids how to skate, why aren’t you over there helping the others teaching the kids how to skate?”

Coco and Velvet had volunteered to help Adrian with skating, and Pyrrha was calmly coaxing Jaune onto the ice as he gripped onto the outer wall for dear life. 

“For starters, Jaune isn’t a child, and secondly,” Yang smiled warmly at Blake, cheeks tinting pink. “You’re not over there, so I don’t want to be over there.”

Blake flushed bright red, and Yang chuckled. It wasn’t very often that she got Blake to blush, but damn it was such a rewarding feeling when she did. 

Blake’s eyes quickly scanned the rink, looking for anyone, anything she could do to change the subject. Her eyes landed on Weiss, who was currently wrapped up in a conversation with Sun and Ilia.

“Ilia and Sun think Weiss is cute. What are their odds of getting her number?”

Yang laughed, shaking her head. “Slim to none, Weiss doesn’t give her number out to just anyone. Besides, she totally has a thing for Pyrrha.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Weiss has a crush on Pyrrha who has a crush on Jaune who has a crush on Weiss. It’s a goddamn mess.”

Weiss had been into Pyrrha since the day that had met, and Jaune had a crush on Weiss since the moment he laid eyes on her. Pyrrha had developed a crush on both of them shortly after. The Wyverns had placed bets on who would confess first a while ago, but no one was sure if they were getting paid anytime soon.

Blake shook her head, a small smirk slipping onto her face as she leaned into Yang’s side. “No kidding, at least we aren’t like that.”

Yang felt heat explode across her face. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Whatever you want it to, sweetheart.” 

Blake winked, and skated away, leaving Yang standing there, wondering what the fuck just happened. 

\--

**Blake**  
**7:48 pm**

**Blake**  
Weiss gave both Sun and Ilia her number

 **Yang**  
wait really  
holy shit weiss you fucking legend

 **Blake**  
Weiss has way more game than any of us give her credit for

 **Yang**  
everyone is in love with weiss  
god i should stop bullying her for being single

 **Blake**  
Aren’t you single

 **Yang**  
this isn’t about me this is about weiss

 **Blake**  
Sure it is

 **Yang**  
i can’t even go a day without getting bullied by you people  
i hate this team

 **Blake**  
Lies and slander  
You love us

\--

Glynda lets them have practice outside one day.

Pyrrha takes them to a nearby pond that’s frozen over, just outside the city limits in a little park that they've been to a couple of times before, and Yang feels like she’s six years old again, when Summer used to take her out to the pond near their house to skate in the winter. 

“Come on Weiss! Do a jump!”

Blake laughed at Ruby’s pestering of the former figure skater, shaking her head and returning her attention back to Yang. “You know I keep forgetting that Weiss used to be a figure skater.”

Yang smiled as Ruby and Nora broke out into cheers when Weiss finally caved and did a jump for them, her form still perfect even after all these years. 

"We all kind of forget sometimes." Yang said, adjusting the laces on her skates. "We've only ever known her as a hockey player, and she doesn't exactly bring it up very often."

Yang stood up, grabbing her stick and nudging Blake with her elbow. "Ever played on a frozen pond before?"

Blake nudged her back, a small smile on her face. "Have you?"

"It's a Xiao Long-Rose family tradition." Yang said, smiling sadly at the old memories. "Mom used to take Ruby and me to this pond by our house during the winter so we could skate."

"You're going to have to help me then. I've never skated on anything other than the ice in a hockey rink." Blake looked down at the ice warily. "I'm from Menagerie, which isn't exactly the winter wonderland you seemed to have grown up with. We had one ice rink and a mediocre co-ed hockey team."

“That’s what the jerseys you and Sun have a from, right? That hockey team you used to play on back in Menagerie.”

Blake nodded, adjusting the sleeves on her sweater. “We weren’t official or anything, and we barely had enough players to play, but we got some pretty nice jerseys out of it.”

Pyrrha called out to them, and Yang stepped onto the ice, turning to smile encouragingly as Blake hesitated behind her.

“You’ll be fine, it’s not that much different than skating in the rink. I promise. Pyrrha already checked the thickness to make sure it was safe for us to be on if you’re worried about that.”

“You better not be lying to me, Xiao Long.”

\--

Their next game is against the Argus Leviathans, and what should have been an easy game quickly turns into a mess in the second period. 

Yang’s used to aggression on the ice, used to fights and insults and swears, but it’s not very often that she gets targeted by other players. 

She had a reputation as a fighter, and a lot of people liked to avoid starting something with her for a reason.

It hadn’t happened so far that season, and when it does, it suddenly feels like their game against the Beowolves.

It’s a newer player, a forward, and she’s so similar to the Beowolves’ rookie that Yang isn’t surprised to see her itching for a fight.

She’s just surprised that it was with her. 

It’s another one of those games where Glynda wants the Wyverns’ defensemen on the ice, to help Nora protect the goal, and Yang’s deadset on staying out of the penalty box this time. 

Yang’s not all that concerned, she can handle a rough check or two just fine, doesn’t think that much of the other player’s aggression and focuses on the game. 

Yang may have been mildly okay with it, but Blake sure as hell wasn’t.

She notices Blake getting more upset by the minute, can see her grip tighten on her stick every time Yang gets checked or bumped into. Blake isn’t an aggressive player, and she doesn’t like to fight, so Yang never could have guessed what happened next. 

Yang hadn’t even realized Blake’s gloves were on the ice until the first punch was thrown. 

For the first time, in her professional hockey career, Blake Belladonna had started a fight.

\--

“You didn’t have to do that.”

Blake was silent for a moment, eyes trained down towards the floor, running her hand through her hair tiredly.

"I know." Blake said quietly. "But I… I couldn't just stand there and do nothing, Yang…"

They were the last ones in the locker room, something that was slowly starting to become a normal occurrence for them, and Yang couldn't stop thinking about what had happened during the game.

Blake starting a fight, _for her_ , getting a penalty, _for fighting to protect her_.

"Blake-"

"Yang." Blake looked up at her, voice cracking, staring at Yang with teary eyes, ears tilted back in distress. 

Yang froze, heart sinking, _breaking_ inside of her chest.

She'd never seen Blake cry before.

“Blake…” Yang reached out to her, heart continuing to shatter when Blake flinched _away_ from her touch. “What’s wrong?”

“I was so scared… that she was going to hurt you.” Blake wiped at her eyes, hesitantly stepping closer to Yang, leaning into her. “I just wanted to keep you safe.”

Yang wrapped her arms around Blake, rubbing soothing circled into her back. “Everything was fine sweetheart, nothing happened.”

“That’s the thing Yang, what if something had happened? What if something had happened and you had gotten hurt?” Blake paused, tilting her head back to look her in the eyes. “You’re always protecting me, it’s only fair that I return the favor.”

“Blake,” Yang said, swallowing hard. “You don’t owe me anything.”

Blake shook her head, hands tightening in Yang’s jersey. “I don’t care. I just want to protect you too. Is that too much to ask for? I just want you to be safe.”

Yang’s quiet for a long moment, letting Blake’s words sink in, lets them sit inside her brain until she can fortify a response.

“Ok.” Yang whispered softly, raising a hand and cupping Blake’s cheeks, thumbing away a stray tear that had fallen. “Ok.”

“Let me protect you too.” Blake says quietly, rubbing at her eyes. “We can protect each other.”

Yang’s heart thuds back to life, repairs itself at the hopeful look on Blake’s face, and she nods, tries to convey every emotion she’s feeling when she presses her forehead against Blake. 

It goes unspoken between them, the true extent of their promise to each other.

They’re protecting each other now, both on and off the ice.

\--

“Fancy seeing you here.”

Blake rolls her eyes and plops down on the bench beside Yang in the penalty box. 

Yang was currently serving a five minute penalty for fighting, and Blake had just been sent to the box to serve out an interference penalty. 

“You better be careful Belladonna, you might just end up spending more time in here than me.”

Blake rolls her eyes again, a small smile on her face. “Like that’s possible miss ‘a hundred and fifty minutes in the penalty box’.”

“You guys are never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Nope.”

\--

Nora insists that they have another movie night.

Yang and Blake actually join in the team argument this time instead of staying in the kitchen, and after a couple of minutes, they finally come to an almost complete agreement on the movie they should want to watch. 

Keyword, almost.

Blake didn’t want to watch the movie, and she tells Yang exactly why when they settle down together on the couch.

“I read the book,” Blake said, leaning close to her side. “But I doubt it’ll be anything like the source material.”

“What makes you say that?” Yang said, draping her arm over Blake’s shoulder. 

“Experience. They always mess it up, one way or another.”

"Come on Blakey, it can't be that bad."

It is, or at least according to Blake it is.

"I can't believe this." The faunus whispered to her halfway through, ears flicking. "They completely messed up her character."

Yang leaned her head down towards her. "How bad is it?"

"This is the worst thing I've ever seen. It's an absolute disgrace."

Yang laughed quietly, tightening her grip around Blake. "If it's really that bad, tell me what the book is like and maybe I'll read it."

Blake looks startled for a moment, before smiling shyly. "You really want to hear me talk about books?"

"Of course I do."

"I don't want to bore you…" Blake says, eyes drifting down to stare at the floor.

"Blake, nothing you could ever do would bore me." Yang said truthfully, hoping with every fiber of her being that Blake believed her. 

She did.

Blake was really cute when she rambled, her eyes bright and a small, dopey smile on her face, and Yang could spend a whole day just watching her.

If hockey was Blake's first passion, reading was definitely a close second. 

It wasn't until the movie was over that Yang realizes she hadn't been paying attention to any of it, too focused on Blake being happy and herself to watch whatever was happening on screen.

They don't even participate when the team goes back to arguing over what they should watch next, too caught up in each other to care.

The next movie just so also happens to be based off of a book, and it starts a whole new rant, and Yang just listens, as attentive as ever.

"Hey! Quiet you two, we're trying to watch a movie!" 

Yang flips Nora off, smiling at Blake's giggles and the goalie's insulted sputtering.

"Maybe we should stop…" Blake whispers, and Yang immediately starts to shake her head.

"Keep going." 

Blake blushes, raising a hand to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Are you sure?"

Yang's enthusiastic nods have Blake laughing quietly again, and she continues with a smile on her face.

She adores this side of Blake, the side that she so rarely gets to see. The side that's passionate and intense and _alive_.

It’s one of the many reasons that Yang is falling in love with Blake.

The thought of falling in love had always been something that has scared her in the past, but now, sitting next to Blake, watching her talk about books with the biggest smile on her face, love suddenly isn’t so scary. 

Yang was in love with Blake, and it wasn’t as scary as she thought it would have been, falling in love, because it was _Blake_.

She was in love with her cute little smile, her pretty laugh, her passion, everything that made her _her_. 

Loving Blake felt right, like she had always been meant to be with her, to love her.

Yang adjusted her arm around Blake, pulling her closer, ignoring the rapid pounding of her heart in her chest in favor of listening to Blake’s enthusiastic rambling. 

Yang was in love with Blake, and she could only hope that Blake loved her back.

\--

Their next game was a home game against the Mantle Manticores. 

They’d played against the Manticores a couple times already that season, but this was their first and only home game against them.

They’d played against the Manticores several times, but for some reason, Blake was nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” Blake said looking up from her phone, turning it off and setting it down, only to pick it up again when it buzzed at an incoming message. 

“Doesn’t look like nothing Belladonna.” Nora said, slipping her jersey over her head. 

Blake sighed, dropping her phone again. “It’s just… my parents are coming to watch the game.”

The locker room fell silent as everyone turned to stare at Blake.

"What?" Blake asked, ears twitching as she cringed under their stares.

"Your parents are coming?" 

Blake nodded slowly, confused and a little concerned. 

Pyrrha dropped her helmet back into her locker, turning to stand on one of the benches, towering over the rest of the team. "Alright guys, you know the drill. We can't lose."

"What happens if we lose?"

"You don't want to know."

Blake turned her head to look at Yang. "What's going on?"

"We have a rule that if someone's family is attending a game, we can't lose. Something about defending our honor." Yang smirked, leaning close to whisper into Blake's ear. "We started doing it when Jaune's sister attended one of our games, and we lost and she teased him relentlessly. Pyrrha felt so bad we had to make a rule."

"Jaune doesn't even play on this team. He's our physician."

"Close enough."

Blake laughed, glancing down at her phone when it buzzed again. "Maybe if you guys are lucky, you can meet my parents after the game."

"Now we definitely have to win. We can't show our faces to them if we disgrace the Belladonna family name."

Blake shook her head, giggling. "Don't be so dramatic."

Weiss appeared on Blake's other side, rolling her eyes. "That's like asking her not to breathe. It's literally impossible."

“Rude.”

\--

They win 4-0.

Nora yells something incomprehensible from the other side of the rink when they score the final goal, drowned out by the sound of the buzzer, signaling the end of the third period. 

The team crowds around Weiss, who scored the last point, surrounding the poor forward with overenthusiastic love and affection.

"I hate you guys so much." She grumbled as they left the ice, desperately trying to push a smiling Ruby off of her.

"You love us." 

"I don't. I really don't." Weiss shakes her head fondly, her small smile betraying her annoyance.

Blake changed quickly, slipping out of her gear and putting the formal clothing she had been wearing before the game back on.

Blake checks her phone, smiling to herself as she reads a message before slipping her phone into her pocket.

"Do you..." She starts, pausing and turning to Yang. "Do you want to meet my parents?"

Yang slowly shrugs her dress shirt back on, absentmindedly redoing the buttons. "Yeah, yeah of course."

Blake smiles, and Yang finishes changing, deciding to forgo her suit jacket and follow Blake out of the locker room.

They make it a few feet out of the locker room before Blake is being embraced by the arms of an older faunus woman.

She bears an eerie resemblance to Blake, same facial structure, same bright eyes and dark hair, same cat ears, the only difference being that her ears are pierced.

This woman is obviously Blake's mother.

Yang smiles at the interaction, only to tense a moment later when a large shadow passes over them, and large forearms wrap around the mother and daughter.

The biggest man Yang has ever seen has joined the impromptu family hug, and Yang can only assume that this man is Blake's father.

"You did so good sweetheart." Blake's mother pulls back, smile wide, cupping Blake's cheeks gently between her hands. "We're so proud of you."

Blake reaches up to pull her mother's hands away from her face, holding her hands tightly in front of her.

Blake's father leans down to say something to them, and Blake's smile gets impossibly bigger.

Her mother glances behind Blake, finally spotting Yang, and her ears perk up in curiosity. "Blake, who's this?"

Blake turns to her, ears twitching back nervously. "This is my teammate, Yang."

Blake's mother lights up, and she lets go of Blake's hand, opening her arms widely and wrapping them around Yang.

Yang returns the hug hesitantly, looking up and locking eyes with Blake, who quietly laughs at the helpless look on her face.

"I'm Kali." The woman introduces upon pulling away, and Blake's father sticks his hand out to her.

Yang accepts his hand, not even realizing that she used her prosthetic hand until she notices his eyes widen, but he doesn't pull his hand away, gripping the metal firmly. 

"Ghira." He says in a deep voice, and Yang nods, trying her best to smile despite the nerves fluttering in her stomach.

"Yang Xiao Long."

Kali leans over and whispers something in Blake's ear that makes her flush bright red, stuttering something back, ears flat against her head.

Ruby pops her head out of the locker room, and she steps out, bouncing with energy.

Kali notices the player jersey still hanging off of her sister's shoulders and scoops her up in a hug, and introductions are started all over again with the Wyverns' youngest player.

Blake looks over and locks eyes with Yang, face still red, an embarrassed smile on her face.

“You played well.”

Yang jumps slightly when a large hand pats her on the shoulder, and she looks up to see Ghira smiling down at her.

“Thank you, sir.”

Kali pulls away from Ruby as Ghira steps forward to introduce himself, and the older faunus woman leans close to Yang. 

“Blake’s single, if you’re interested.” She whispered into her ear, and Yang swears she’s going to die of embarrassment as she whips her around to look at the older woman, who just winks and moves over to stand next to Blake, leaving Yang behind her, looking absolutely dumbfounded. 

\--

"Hey Belladonna, it seems like you have a little admirer!"

Yang glanced up at Nora's yell, and Blake skidded to a stop on the ice beside her.

Nora was pointing at something behind them, and Blake turned around, a wide grin breaking out on her face as she looked out into the stands.

A young faunus girl was standing behind the boards, tiny cat ears flicking happily, little fists banging against the glass, Blake's jersey dwarfing her small frame.

The girl's smile grew larger as Blake skated over to her, vibrating with excitement when Blake tapped on the glass in front of her.

The little girl bounced up and down on her feet, and Blake turned her head to look back at Yang. "Can I get a puck?"

Yang smiles to herself as she passes a puck over to Blake, watching her pick it up off of the ice and toss it over the boards into the waiting hands of the little girl.

Blake lingered by the glass for a moment longer, before waving and skating back over to Yang to finish warm-ups.

Yang glances back at the little girl as they skate away, smile growing impossibly large when she sees the girl jump up and down and talk excitedly to her father about the encounter.

“What’re you smiling about?”

Yang grinned cheekily, nudging Blake. “Oh nothing, just thinking about how sweet you were with her.”

Blake rolled her eyes, blushing heavily as she gave Yang a shove back, laughing. "Shut up, you do the same thing all the time."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Yang pointedly ignores Blake's teasing stare when she gives a kid a puck a couple of minutes later.

\--

Yang loves Blake's smile.

She loves a lot of things about Blake, but her smile is definitely up there.

"Your smile is really pretty."

Blake's ears twitched back, and she looked down at the floor. "My smile is not pretty…"

"Well I think it is." Yang said honestly. "I think your smile is really pretty."

Blake glanced up at Yang's face, laughing nervously, and then looking back down at the floor. "The next thing you're gonna say is that you think my laugh is pretty too."

Silence. 

"Oh my god you think my laugh is pretty."

Yang blushed furiously, but didn't deny it. She did think Blake's laugh was pretty. She thought a lot of things about Blake were pretty.

Yang loved Blake's laugh, just like she loved her smile.

\--

Taiyang comes to watch their next home game, and then it’s Blake’s turn to meet her teammates’ parents. 

They manage to uphold their usual rule of winning when family is watching, beating the Vale Crowns 3-2, and Yang drags Blake out of the locker room after the game to meet her dad. 

“Will he like me?”

Yang rolls her eyes playfully. “He’ll love you. He’s as big of a hockey nerd as the rest of us.”

Blake doesn’t seem so sure, but they round the corner, and Yang immediately spots the faded blond hair of her dad, so she has no time to soothe the nervous faunus. 

"There's my sunny little dragon!"

Tai practically crushes Yang with his hug, and she makes a show of struggling to breathe. "Dad!"

A pale hand grips Tai's shoulder, and the blond man releases her, smiling widely. 

Qrow reaches over and pats Yang on the back. "Good job Firecracker."

Tai looks behind Yang and finally notices Blake. “And who might this be, sweetheart?”

Yang blushes when he playfully wiggles his eyebrows, understanding the hidden implication perfectly. “This is my teammate, Blake. Blake, this is my dad, Taiyang, and my uncle, Qrow.”

Qrow nods at Blake, a perfectly normal greeting from the man, but Tai’s smile brightens, and Yang knows she’s in trouble. 

“No need to be so nervous Yang. You’re acting like you’re introducing us to your girlfriend.”

If Yang hadn’t been blushing before, her face was absolutely on fire right now, and she punched her dad in the shoulder. 

Yang’s glad when Ruby takes this moment to run down the hall and throw herself at their dad, laughing and smiling and hopefully forgetting about Yang and her obvious crush on her teammate. 

Blake’s blushing almost as bad as she is, but she’s _smiling_ , and Yang feels her heart stop in her chest. 

Blake was smiling, at the implication of them dating. 

That had to be a good sign, right?

\--

Yang and Blake are always the last ones in the locker room.

After practices, after games, they always linger just a little longer than the others.

Today, they've stayed much later than they normally do, changing out of their practice gear as slowly as they possibly can, prolonging their time together. 

They've done this a thousand times before, but this time is different.

Yang's said some joke, what it was she doesn't exactly remember, forgets it the moment she says it because Blake's laughing her pretty, cute little laugh and she instantly loses her train of thought.

Blake is beautiful when she laughs, _truly laughs_ , carefree and stunning and everything that makes Yang fall more and more in love with her.

"What are you staring at?"

Yang snaps out of her daze, only now realizing that she's been staring at Blake and smiling for way longer than she should be because she's so wholeheartedly in love with Blake that she can't look away.

She can't respond, can't look away, can't think any other thoughts besides Blake.

Yang leans down and kisses Blake.

\--

Soft.

Blake's lips are _soft_ and _warm_ , as perfect as she ever thought they would be.

_Wait._

She's kissing Blake.

_Fuck she's kissing Blake._

Yang pulls back, breathing heavily, staring into wide golden eyes.

She kissed Blake. _She kissed Blake._

"I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have, I should've asked, I'm sorr-"

Blake reached up and fists her hands into the front of Yang's shirt, yanking her down to seal their lips together again.

_Oh._

One of Blake's hands shifted to curl around the back of her head, tangling her fingers into Yang's hair and pulling her closer. Yang wrapped her arms around Blake's waist, reveling in the feeling of the other woman's body against her own.

Blake pulled back, pressing her forehead against Yang's, the goofiest smile on her face as she breathed heavily into the space between them.

Yang giggles uncontrollably, head dropping to rest in the croak of Blake's neck, smiling widely into her skin.

They stood there for a while, not saying a word, just holding onto each other and smiling.

"Blake," Yang whispers, leaning back and cupping Blake's cheek. "I-"

The sudden sound of hurried footsteps approaching the locker room has them jumping apart, heads whipping around as Nora bursts into the locker room, out of breath and panting.

"Forgot my phone." She says, hurrying over to her locker and scooping the device off the bench. "What're you two still doing here?"

Yang's eyes dart over to Blake, notes the panicked look at her face, and improvises.

"Blake was showing me something on her phone. We lost track of time."

Nora buys the complete lie, turning on her phone and jumping up. "I gotta go, see you guys later!" 

Yang mumbles a goodbye, and Blake simply waves, and Nora sprints out of the locker room, leaving Yang and Blake alone with their feelings.

\--

Yang's grinning widely by the time they finally leave the locker room a couple of minutes later, lips red and hair tousled. 

Blake's working to fix her rumpled clothes, running a hand through her hair in an attempt to tame the wild mess Yang's fingers made.

Yang hesitantly reaches and intertwines her fingers with Blake's, smiling sweetly when Blake looks over at her. 

Blake squeezes Yang's hand, returning her smile easily and leading the way to the exit, swinging their joined hands cutely in between them.

Blake tugs her hand slightly when they reach the parking lot, bringing them to a halt.

Blake leans up and kisses her cheek, and Yang turns her head to return the favor when she pulls away.

"I'll text you." Blake says, brushing a strand of hair behind Yang's ear, pecking her on the lips.

Yang nods numbly, and Blake giggles, patting Yang on the cheek before slipping away into the parking lot.

Yang's phone buzzes a couple of minutes later, and Yang leans back in her car seat, slipping the device out of her pocket to see a text from Blake, just as promised.

**Blake**  
**1:14 pm**

**Blake**  
Are you free on Saturday

 **Yang**  
miss belladonna are you asking me on a date

 **Blake**  
That's exactly what I'm doing

 **Yang**  
i thought you'd never ask

 **Blake**  
Sounds like you have a crush on me Xiao Long

 **Yang**  
pick me up at seven

 **Blake**  
I didn't even say what we're doing yet

 **Yang**  
don't care  
i'll be happy as long as i'm with you

\--

Blake sidled up close to her side the next morning in the lounge before practice.

"So I was thinking that we'd just go out to dinner on Saturday, if that's okay with you."

Yang smiled warmly, curling her arm around Blake's waist. "Sounds good, I'm down for whatever."

"Does sushi work for you? There's a new place on 5th Avenue that I wanted to try." 

"Sounds perfect." Yang presses a gentle kiss to her temple, pulling away at the sound of footsteps approaching the lounge.

Blake winks, picking up her freshly poured tea. "I'll pick you up at seven."

Yang had a date with Blake Belladonna.

She had two days to prepare for her date with Blake, the woman she was hopelessly in love with.

Shit.

\--

**Ruby**  
**3:46 pm**

**Ruby**  
Hey do you wanna go see a movie on Saturday  
Try Hard 3: Trying Your Hardest just came out and Penny's busy this weekend

 **Yang**  
sorry sis i'm busy saturday night 

**Ruby**  
Since when were you busy on a Saturday night  
What're you doing

 **Yang**  
i have a date

 **Ruby**  
OMG WAIT  
YOU WHAT

 **Yang**  
i have a date on saturday

 **Ruby**  
WITH WHO  
WHAT'S HER NAME  
DO I KNOW HER

 **Yang**  
not telling  
if it goes well then maybe you'll find out

 **Ruby**  
YANG  
Yang Xiao Long don't you dare leave me on read  
Sis  
Yang  
Yaaaaaaaaaaang  
You're leaving me on read aren't you

\--

Blake knocked on her door at 7 pm sharp.

Yang sprung up, smoothing her hands down over her pants and shirt, quickly trying to make herself more presentable as she opened the door.

Blake was dressed in dark slacks and a white button-down shirt, a suit jacket over her shoulders, heeled boots adding a couple more inches to her height, and a necklace with a golden ring on it dangling from her neck.

Yang ‘s outfit was similar to Blake’s, a pair of dress pants and a button-down shirt, a silk tie, and a black suit jacket.

The place they were going to was on the fancier side, and Yang had seen Blake in formal wear before, but _holy shit_ it never failed to take her breath away.

"I see we both had the same idea." Blake said with a smile, gesturing to their similar choice of clothing. “Are you ready to go?”

Yang nodded, stepping out into the hallway besides Blake, closing her apartment door behind her and locking it. 

Blake held out her elbow, and Yang slipped her arm through hers, and off they went. 

\--

The place they go to is nice, really nice, probably the nicest place Yang has been to in a really long time. 

Yang hasn’t been on a date in years, not since she was in college, not since before her accident, and even then her dates had been few and far between. 

Blake holds the door open for her when they arrive at the restaurant, holds her hand when their waitress leads them to their table, even pulls out her chair for her when they sit down. 

They hold hands over the table while they eat, smiling happily, and Yang laughs when Blake reaches over and steals a piece of her sushi off her plate halfway through their meal. 

“Really?”

Blake smirks at her, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “I didn’t see you try to stop me, so who’s really at fault here?”

Yang couldn’t argue with that logic.

“Wanna play a game?”

Blake gives her an incredulous look, ear flicking. “Depends, what’s your game?”

“Whoever the waitress gives the check to has to pay for dinner.” 

Blake laughs, shaking her head, smiling softly and running her thumb over the knuckles of Yang’s prosthetic hand. “That’s not a game Yang, but sure, we can do that if you want.”

When the waitress comes by with the check fifteen minutes later, she actually pauses, glances between the two of them, sets the check down in the middle of the table and walks away. 

They stare at the check for a couple seconds, before looking up at each other and laughing. 

“I guess we’re splitting the check.” Blake said in between giggles, squeezing Yang’s hand. 

They pay and leave, hands still interlocked, and Blake leans into Yang’s side, sighing contently. 

“Let me walk you home.” Yang whispers, swinging their hands in between them. 

“You don’t have to.” Blake whispers back.

"I want to."

And that's how Yang finds herself in front of Blake's door at 10 pm on a Saturday night.

"This was fun." Blake says, fishing into her pocket for her apartment key. "I'd like to do it again sometime, if that's okay with you?"

Yang kisses the back of Blake's hand, smiling widely against the smooth skin. "I'd like that, a lot."

Blake pecks Yang on the cheek, letting their hands drop down into the space in between them, still loosely intertwined.

They pause, staring into each other's eyes, lilac meeting with gold, hearts beating fast and wild in their chests. 

_"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"_

_"Will you be my girlfriend?"_

Their sentences overlap, and they stare for a moment longer, before breaking down into giggles, leaning heavily into each other.

"I take it that's a yes?"

Yang drops her face into the crook of Blake's shoulder, arms winding around her waist. "I'll be your girlfriend if you'll be mine."

"I'm pretty sure that's how dating works Yang."

"Don't be a smartass, I'm trying to romance you."

Blake laughs again, pulling back to look her in the eyes. "So… girlfriends?"

"Girlfriends."

Blake reaches her hands up, cupping Yang's cheeks, pulling her down for a kiss that she eagerly returns, and Yang decides that this is the best night of her life not only because she is kissing Blake Belladonna but B _lake Belladonna is her girlfriend._

“I’ll see you at practice on Monday, right?” Blake asks shyly, smoothing a loose strand of hair behind Yang’s ear.

“Yeah.” Yang kisses her again. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

When Yang finally returns to her own apartment later that night, she collapses into her bed, still dressed, and immediately texts Blake, smiling so hard it hurts. 

**Blake**  
**11:03 pm**

**Yang**  
goodnight  
<3

 **Blake**  
night  
<3

\--

“Yang Xiao Long.”

Ruby strode up to Yang, a woman on a mission, drawing the attention of the entirety of the team in the lounge. 

“Who did you go on a date with on Saturday?” Ruby demanded, standing up as tall as she could, the top of her head just barely reaching Yang’s eyes.

Coco wolf-whistled, smirking teasingly. “Xiao Long had a date?”

“Yeah! She won’t tell me who it was with though!”

Yang blushes fiercely, and out of the corner of her eye she can see Blake holding back a laugh.

Ruby turns to Blake, sees the smile on her face, and starts her interrogation. “Blake, do you know who she went on a date with?”

“No idea.” Blake says immediately, and Ruby buys her lie, because why would Blake ever lie to her, and returns her attention back to Yang, mouth already open to ask again.

“You’ll find out, eventually.” Yang said, cutting off anything she was about to say, wrapping her hand around the warm porcelain of her coffee mug. “I promise.”

Velvet looked up from her phone, lifting her head from Coco’s shoulder. “I take it your date went well.”

“Yeah.” Yang nodding, the most lovestruck smile on her face. “It did.”

Pyrrha calls them over to the locker room, and Ruby is forced to drop the subject.

Blake nudges her shoulder when she passes her on the way to the locker room, a playful smile on her face.

Their relationship was going to remain a secret, for now, so they had time to just be with each other without anyone knowing. 

It would just be the two of them, and that was perfectly fine for now.

\--

"Are you, by any chance, allergic to cats?"

Yang blinks, slightly taken aback by Blake's sudden question.

They were standing outside of Blake’s apartment, having decided to stay in and watch a movie instead of going out to see one, and Blake paused to turn to her, keys halfway to the door.

“No,” Yang said, shaking her head, face lighting up as a realization dawned on her. “Do you have a cat?”

Blake sheepishly smiled, nodding, turning around and unlocking her door. She opens it, steps inside, and gestures for Yang to follow her.

They pull their jackets off, and Yang’s kicking off her boots when she hears a small meow come from deeper within the apartment. 

A small black cat appears from around the corner, quickly darting over to Blake and brushing up against her legs, purring and winding her tail around Blake’s upper calf.

Blake leans down and scoops the small cat up into her arms, smiling when the feline rubs the top of it’s head against her chin.

“Yang, this is my daughter, Gambol Shroud. Gambol, this is my girlfriend, Yang.” Blake introduces cutely, and Yang’s heart flutters in her chest. She’ll never get over how happy she feels when Blake refers to her as her girlfriend. 

“Hi.” Yang says, not at all feeling silly as she greets the little cat, offering her left hand out for the feline to sniff, smiling when Gambol bumps her head against it, purring even louder. 

Blake sets the cat down, and makes her way over to the kitchen. “Do you want anything to drink? I’m about to make some tea, but I know you prefer coffee.”

“Tea is fine.” Yang joins her girlfriend in the kitchen, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek and curl her arm around her waist. “Thank you.”

They settle down on the couch together, warm cups of steaming tea in their hands, the opening scene of a movie playing on the tv in front of them.

Gambol jumps up onto the couch beside them, carefully stepping into Yang’s lap and curling up there, purring contently. 

“I think she likes me.” Yang whispers, scratching the cat’s chin gently, smiling when Gambol leaned into her touch.

Blake hummed, smiling and snuggling closer into Yang’s side. “That’s something she and I both have in common.”

Yang flushed bright red, and Blake laughed, kissing her on the cheek.

This woman, and her cute little cat, were definitely going to be the death of her. 

\--

After being in Blake’s apartment, and seeing all the books on her bookshelves, and having remembered all of the times she’s listened to Blake talk about books with the biggest smile on her face, Yang comes up with the perfect date idea. 

It’s worth it, taking Blake to a bookstore, just to see her face light up with a childlike glee as she guides Yang around the store, their hands clasped tightly together.

“You really like books.” Yang says, leaning over Blake’s shoulder to read the back cover of whatever book Blake had just taken off the shelf. 

“Yeah,” She replied, smirking. “Almost as much as I like you.”

Blake laughs when she blushes, but Yang doesn’t mind, because Blake’s laugh is still the cutest thing in the world to her. 

Blake recommends some books to her, and even though she hasn’t sat down to read a book since she was in college, she trusts Blake, and leaves the store with two new books to add to the somewhat empty shelf in her living room. 

\--

When they return from an away game a couple of weeks later, it’s two in the morning and everyone is exhausted.

Nora doesn’t even give her normal request of going out to celebrate, just slumps into the arms of a caring and waiting Ren, and leaves with her husband, not even bothering to say goodbye to her teammates.

Blake is half asleep on her feet, heavily leaning into Yang’s side, letting her girlfriend guide her off the bus and into the parking lot. 

“Come home with me.” Yang says. “It’s late, and you’re tired, just come home with me for the night.”

“Ok.” Blake mumbles, yawning slightly. “Ok.”

Blake slips into the passenger seat of the car, buckles her seat belt and relaxes, leaning her head onto the window. 

Blake falls asleep on the car ride back to her apartment, and Yang almost feels bad gently nudging her awake when they’re finally in the confines of her apartment's parking garage. 

Yang helps Blake out of her jacket and shoes once they’re inside her place, and leaves her sitting on the couch while she goes to find her a change of clothes from her room.

The shirt she finds for Blake is way too big, and hangs almost completely off of her shoulders, and the sweatpants she’s wearing are no better, resting so lowly on her hips that Yang is a little worried they might just fall off. 

“You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.” Yang whispers to her gently, guiding the faunus underneath the covers on her bed. 

Blake shakes her head, and tightens her grip on Yang’s shirt. “Stay with me. There’s plenty of room.”

Yang blushes, and opens her mouth to disagree, but Blake shakes her head again, smiling pleadingly, and Yang knows she can't say no to that face. 

Yang sighs and maneuvers herself to the other side of the bed, detaches her prosthetic, and joins her girlfriend underneath the covers. 

Blake cuddles close to her, swinging a leg over her hips and nuzzling into her neck. Yang wraps her arm around Blake’s back, presses a kiss to her forehead.

“Love you…” The faunus mumbles, kissing the side of her neck, and Yang’s heart almost explodes in her chest. 

They had never said ‘I love you’ before.

“I love you too.” Yang whispers, pulling Blake more firmly against her. 

Yang can feel Blake smile into her neck, giggling slightly. “I beat you to it.”

“What?”

Blake laughs quietly. “I said I love you first, which means I win.”

Yang joined in her quiet laughter. “I wasn’t aware it was a competition.” 

“It totally was. You kissed me first, I had to get back at you somehow.”

Yang shook her head, rubbing Blake’s back gently. “God you’re such a gremlin sometimes, you know that right?”

“Yeah, but I’m your gremlin.” Blake yawned, snuggling impossibly closer to her warmth. “And you love me.”

“Yeah.” Yang said breathlessly. “Yeah, I do.”

Blake sighed, and fell asleep, face buried into her neck, limbs tangled with her, and the softest smile Yang had ever seen on her face. 

Yang smiled to herself, cuddled closer, and fell asleep. 

\--

The Wyverns play their last game of the season against the Pharos Falcons. 

They go into overtime with a score of 1-1, and Glynda sends Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Velvet to play, swapping Nora out of the net to put Velvet in at Coco’s recommendation. 

They end the season just like they started it, with Ruby scoring a goal.

One of the Falcons’ defensemen tries to steal the puck from Blake, and Blake quickly passes the puck to Ruby, and her little sister does what she does best. 

She shoots, and she scores. 

And just like that, the season is over.

Blake reaches Ruby in the celly first, wrapping an arm over her shoulders and pulling her into a hug, her giddy laughter drowned out by the sound of people cheering in the stands. 

Yang wraps her arms around the pair of them, gently bumping her helmet against theirs, smiling widely when she sees Blake’s gleaming yellow eyes staring softly at her.

Their final goal of the season, scored by her little sister, assisted by her girlfriend.

Yang couldn’t be prouder of the both of them. 

\--

They go out for drinks after the game, and Yang leaves the bar completely sober and in Blake’s car heading back to the faunus’s apartment. 

Ruby gave Yang a weird look as she passed by her to go to Blake’s car. A drunk Weiss was leaning heavily into Ruby’s side, and even she paused in her drunken rambles to give Yang an odd look.

“Where are you going?” Ruby asked, guiding Weiss into the passenger seat of her car. Nora and Ren had agreed to take Pyrrha home already, and Coco had left with a drunken Velvet a couple of minutes ago.

“I’m going home with Blake.” Yang said, stepping forward to hug her sister. “I’ll see you later.”

Yang holds Blake’s hand the entire way back, rubbing the back of her hand, running her calloused fingers over smooth and unblemished knuckles.

Blake’s clothes have no chance of fitting Yang, so Yang goes to sleep that night in one of her old hoodies, one that Blake had borrowed a couple of weeks ago and never returned, and her underwear. 

Yang presses her face into Blake’s collarbone, kissing the skin there gently as Blake ran her fingers through her hair, Gambol resting quietly at the foot of the bed. 

“Goodnight.” Blake whispers, kissing the top of her head and snuggling closer. “Love you.”

Yang yawned, tightening her arms slightly around Blake’s waist. “Night, love you too.”

Love was never something that came easy to her, but gods Yang loved falling asleep in Blake’s arms. 

\--

Yang is awoken the next morning to her phone insistently buzzing on Blake’s nightstand. 

“Yang,” Blake grumbles, ears flattening against the top of her head, burrowing her face into the crook of her girlfriend’s neck. “Answer your phone.”

Yang yawns, reaching over Blake to scoop her phone off of the nightstand. 

Ruby was calling her, and from the looks of it she had been trying to contact her all morning, a total of three missed calls and twenty-six text messages. 

Yang hit the answer button and fell back against the pillow. “Hello?”

“Yang!”

“What is it, Ruby?” Yang said, smiling as Blake snuggled closer to her.

“Where are you?”

“You can tell her we’re dating. I don’t mind.” Blake whispered into her ear, nuzzling her chin.

“I’m at Blake’s place.” Yang kissed the top of Blake’s head, right between her ears. “I slept over last night.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Blake lately…”

“Well yeah,” Yang said. “She’s my girlfriend.”

Ruby fell silent, and Blake kissed her cheek, before dropping her head again to rest in the crook of her neck. 

“THAT'S WHO YOU WENT ON A DATE WITH! YOU HAVE TO TELL ME EVERYTHING!”

Yang jolted the phone away from her face, cringing slightly from the sudden volume change, holding back a smile as Blake’s body shook with laughter next to her. 

“Morning Ruby.” Blake said as Yang brought the phone back over to them, leaning closer so the device could pick up her voice. 

“Goodmorning Blake! What are your intentions with my sister?”

“That’s enough outta you.” Yang injected immediately, blushing furiously, glaring at her girlfriend as she laughed at her embarrassment. “Why’d you call me?”

“Oh, I just wanted to see if you wanted to go out for breakfast, but it seems like you’re busy right now so I guess not.”

“We can go out for breakfast, but I’m bringing Blake with and you can’t stop me.”

“Wasn’t even going to try.”

Blake sank further into Yang’s side. “I don’t know about you sweetheart, but I didn’t plan on getting out of bed for another thirty minutes.”

“I’m sorry Ruby but I no longer think we’ll be able to make it to breakfast.”

“Get out of bed! It’s 10:45! We can go out for lunch instead if that’s what you two want!”

Yang glanced down at Blake, smiling when she nodded. “We can go to lunch.”

“Good! Meet me at that one noodle place on 8th street at 12:00! See you later!”

Blake and Yang mumbled their goodbyes, and Yang hung up, dropping her phone back onto the nightstand and throwing her arm around Blake’s shoulders. “We should probably get up soon…”

“Five more minutes?”

“Five more minutes.”

\--

Ruby gives Blake the biggest hug when Yang and her arrive at the noodle place for lunch.

“This is so exciting! How long have you two been together?”

“Almost three months.” Yang said as they sat down, sliding into the booth beside Blake. "We've been keeping it a secret for a little while now."

Ruby is practically bouncing in her seat, smiling widely and vibrating with energy.

Ruby asks an absurd amount of questions, but Yang doesn't mind all that much, and Blake doesn't seem to either.

"Dad wants us home for this weekend." Ruby says, legs swinging underneath the table, face lighting up. "You should bring Blake home! Dad would love to have her over for dinner!"

Yang blushes, and turns to look at Blake, into the bright golden eyes staring back at her.

"Do you want to?" Yang asks, and Blake smiles.

"I'd love to."

It looks like Blake was going to be paying a visit to the Xiao Long-Rose family home.

\--

Yang pulled into the driveway of her childhood home, parking and turning off the ignition, turning to look at her girlfriend.

Blake was tapping her fingers anxiously against the dashboard, ears flicking back as she stared out the windshield at the big log cabin in front of them.

Yang reached over and grasped Blake's hand, and Blake's attention snapped over to her.

"There's no reason to be so nervous Blake." Yang said, gently rubbing the back of Blake's hand. "You've met both my dad and Qrow before. There's nothing to be worried about."

Blake's ear twitched. "That was _before_ I was your girlfriend. It's so much different now."

"You'll be fine. I promise." 

Blake sighed, giving one last glance out the car window and at the house. "You're lucky I trust you."

Yang leaned over and kissed Blake on the cheek. 

"Now, are you ready to meet my Uncle's husband?"

\--

Clover Brawnwen-Ebi was Qrow's husband of almost three years.

They'd met at the beginning of Qrow's sobriety, after years of alcoholism, and while Clover didn't know much about hockey, he had still willingly married into a family of hockey players.

Clover worked a lot of late nights for the Vale police department, so he had only seen a couple of the Wyverns' game, which was why Blake hadn't met him yet.

But it wasn't Yang's Uncle Clover that Blake was here to get the approval of.

"It's so good to see you!"

Tai wrapped his arms around Yang, hugging her tightly.

He lets go of his daughter and turns his attention to Blake.

"Blake, it's nice to see you too." 

Blake reaches out to shake his hand, but he brushes her hand away and hugs her.

Blake looks at Yang for help over his shoulder, glaring at her girlfriend when she just smiles and laughs.

Tai pulls back, grasping Blake by the shoulders, an eerily threatening smile on his face. "What are your intentions towards my daughter?"

Yang quickly leans over and wraps an arm around Blake's waist. "Dad, please don't interrogate my girlfriend. Ruby already did this."

Tai's stern look drops. "I had this whole speech prepared and you're telling me I can't use it?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you."

Tai sighs, shaking his head, before staring Blake directly in the eyes. "If you ever hurt her-"

"I won't." Blake cuts him off. "I love her too much to ever do that."

Tai smiles, patting Blake on the shoulder and turning to look at Yang. "She's a keeper Yang."

Yang groans, dropping her head to burrow her face into Blake's shoulder.

It was going to be a long night.

\--

Yang jumps slightly when a firm hand suddenly pats her on the back.

She whips around, coming face to face with the crimson eyes of her uncle, glaring at the smirk on his face. 

Qrow shakes his head and turns his attention to the trio currently taking up most of the living room space. 

Clover, Ruby, and Blake were sitting on the floor at the coffee table, playing some card game while they waited for Tai to finish dinner. Ruby and Blake were talking about hockey, and Clover was just sitting and nodding, pretending to understand what they were talking about.

Every once and a while the older man would turn to look at Qrow helplessly, but his husband would just smile and wave him off. 

"I'm proud of you, firecracker." 

Yang looked back at her uncle, but his eyes were still focused on the group at the coffee table.

"For what?"

Qrow smiled, shaking his head. "A lot of things kiddo."

Qrow pats her on the back once more, and turned around to go help Tai in the kitchen, not even attempting to explain himself or his cryptic words.

Yang looked back at the coffee table, at the happy look on her girlfriend's face, the enthusiastic gestures of her little sister, and smiled softly to herself.

Blake's ear flicked, and she looked up from the cards in her hands, meeting Yang's eyes and smiling.

"Yang, do you wanna play?" She asked as Clover won, scooping up the cards and shuffling the deck.

"Sure."

\--

Yang wraps her arms around Blake’s waist, resting her head on her shoulder, staring at the wall littered with pictures that was currently grasping her girlfriend’s attention. “Whatcha doing?”

Blake’s ears flicked, and she smiled. “You were a cute kid.”

Blake nodded at one of the pictures, and Yang smiled sadly, old grief settling gently in her chest.

The picture in question had been taken when she and Ruby were still in elementary school, curled up in their parents’ laps, big smiles on their faces. Tai had his arms securely wrapped around Ruby, keeping her small form resting in his lap, the biggest smiles on their faces, gaps in Ruby's grunt from where she was missing teeth.

Yang had settled down with Summer, smile wide and carefree, a bandaid on her elbow from where she had scrapped it that morning, blonde hair pulled back into a braid, sharply contrasting the red of her step-mother’s outfit. 

It’s been years, but _gods_ Yang still misses her smile. 

“Ruby looks just like her.” Blake said, rubbing Yang’s arm comfortingly, sensing her sadness. “I would have loved to meet her.”

Yang kissed the side of Blake’s neck, burrowing her face there, slipping her hand into Blake’s.

“She would have loved to meet you too.”

\--

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Yang hummed, unlocking her door and opening it, stepping into her apartment with Blake close behind her.

They took off their jackets, hanging them up on the coat rack right next to Yang's door, kicking their shoes off and leaving them side by side.

"Am I really the first person you've ever brought home?"

Yang blushed, but nodded.

Tai had made a comment during dinner about Blake being the first person Yang had brought home to meet them, and there was a very specific reason for that.

"Yeah…" Yang said, bringing a hand up to rub the back of her neck. "You're the first person I've ever really had to bring home."

Blake paused, ear twitching. "I'm the first person you've ever dated?"

"You're the first person who I've ever felt this strongly about, so yeah… you're the first person I've ever dated." Yang smiled, embarrassed. "I love you, a lot."

Blake smiled widely, cupping Yang's cheeks and kissing her sweetly. 

"I love you too." Blake said, rubbing her cheek. “More than I think I’ve ever loved anyone.”

Love wasn’t scary, not anymore, not with Blake.

\--

Blake pushed Yang up against the door, fingers tangling into her hair, breathing hotly into her mouth. 

They had just gotten back from a date, a movie that had gotten a little more sultry towards the end then they were expecting, and a simple kiss had turned into so much more upon their return to Yang’s apartment because of it. 

Energy buzzes in Yang’s fingertips, hands running up and down Blake’s back, her shirt riding up from the contact.

Blake pushes her jacket up and off of her shoulders, arms winding further around Yang’s neck, pulling her closer. 

Blake pulls back to catch her breath, and Yang shifted her lips to kiss across Blake’s cheek, pressing kisses to her lower jaw, fingers slipping underneath her shirt.

Yang kissed Blake again, heart beating heavily in her chest as their kisses got more and more heated, tongue swiping against Blake’s lower lip, begging for entrance. 

“I love you.” Blake whispers against her lips, breathless, shivering with desire as Yang’s hands run across the muscle of her lower back and stomach. “I love you.”

When or how they got into her bedroom or on her bed, Yang doesn't know, but she knows for a fact that this is a night she'll never forget.

\--

The group chat is blowing up with messages the next morning, and both of their phones were buzzing annoyingly on the bedside table.

Blake groans, pulling away from Yang and rolling over to pick up her phone.

Yang flushes at the sight of Blake's bare shoulder blades, at the smooth muscle of Blake’s back, at the flash of breasts she saw as Blake turned over.

Blake rolls back over, phone in hand, looking at Yang quizzically, before following Yang's line of sight and laughing.

"Stop staring, they're nothing you haven't seen before. You're just as naked as me." Blake reached a hand out and patted Yang on the cheek, grinning slyly and dropping her eyes to look at Yang’s own assets. “Can’t say I’m complaining though.”

Yang playfully bats Blake's hand away, blushing, pulling the blanket up to cover her chest. "Shut up."

Blake rolls her eyes, laughing again, turning on her phone and opening the Wyverns group chat.

Blake's ears shoot up, and Yang curls an arm around her bare waist, resting her chin on Blake's shoulder as she read the chat messages. 

"Holy shit, we’ve qualified for playoffs."

The Wyverns were heading for the Vytal Cup, and at the top of their division, for the first time in years.

It looks like their season isn't over, not yet.

\--

Practice that morning is hectic, and Yang’s so relieved when it’s finally over and she can go home.

Yang had gotten so used to giving Blake a kiss before they parted ways that she didn’t even think twice before doing it in front of all their teammates. 

Nora does a double-take beside them, and Yang holds back a laugh at her befuddled expression. 

“Since when-”

“Three months.” Blake cuts the goalie off, smiling slightly to herself.

“So that’s who you went on a date with.” Coco says, shaking her head and smiling.

“Finally,” Weiss mutters, slinging her bag over and shoulders, leaving without another word. “I’ve been waiting for one of you to make a move for months.”

And that was how the team found out Blake and Yang were dating, a simple kiss, in the locker room after practice. 

\--

**Wyverns**  
**1:12 pm**

**(Thunder Thighs has changed the girl that punched our dad's nickname to the girl that kissed our dad)**

**the girl that kissed our dad**  
Nice

 **feral lesbian**  
godbless nora

 **Thunder Thighs**  
only the best for our dad and her girlfriend

 **bitch**  
If we’re changing names, can I get mine changed back?

 **feral lesbian**  
no

 **the girl that kissed our dad**  
Yeah no offense Weiss but we’re never changing your name back

 **bitch**  
This is why I say I hate you guys.

 **Thunder Thighs**  
love you too weiss

\--

The Wyverns play their first set of playoff games against the Mantle Manticores. 

First to win four games out of seven advances further in the cup, and the Wyverns are on the verge of winning their fourth game against the Manticores.

The Manticores had won one of the four games they'd played so far, but the Wyverns are winning 4-2 in the last five minutes of the fifth game.

Yang passes the puck to Ruby, watches her dodge around a Manticore defenseman, sees Weiss skating to the left side of the net out of the corner of her eye, open for a pass.

Ruby passes the puck to Weiss, who shoots, and the Manticores' goalkeeper, just barely misses the puck, and the buzzer sounds loudly as it hits the back of the net.

5-2, three minutes left of the third period.

The Wyverns' victory is sealed when the buzzer sounds at the end of the game, securing their win, and sending them into the next round of the playoffs.

\--

Their next set of matches is against the Shade Geckos, and they play four games and win all four games.

Ruby throws her arms around Blake's neck, practically dragging the poor faunus into a hug.

Weiss rolls her eyes, shaking her head when Yang forcibly pulls her into the celly, Coco bumping her helmet against the shorter player's helmet.

The Wyverns were successfully on their way to the semi-finals, for the first time in years.

\--

Yang slumps back in her plane seat, dropping her head down onto Blake's shoulder and groaning.

"Don't be such a baby," Blake teases, intertwining their fingers. "We'll be back in Vale by 2 am."

"Yeah Yang don't be such a baby!"

Yang snorts into her shoulder, laughing quietly. "Why are you guys so mean to me?"

"You're very easy to tease, babe."

Weiss drops her face into her hands, looking like she wants to die from her seat beside. "Please, for the love of god, shut the hell up."

"Yeah, keep the PDA to a minimum."

Pyrrha sighs, shaking her head. "Nora, do you really have to yell."

"Yes."

"I hate this team so much."

"You love us, Weiss."

\--

The next team they play against, are the Haven Lions.

Blake’s old team, the known rivals of the Beacon Wyverns. 

The only team standing between them and the finals. 

The Lions win the first game they play, but then the Wyverns win the next two. The Lions win the fourth, and the Wyverns manage to win a close fifth game in overtime. 

If the Lions win the sixth game, they’ll be forced to play a tie-breaking seventh.

But if the Wyverns win, they advance to the finals, where they’ll face the winner of the Atlas Sabyrs and the Argus Leviathans matches. 

Warmups had been tense, and Blake doesn’t acknowledge her former teammates, hadn’t even spared them a second glance during any of the games they had played against them so far. 

Warmups end, and soon enough, it’s time for the game to start. 

Ruby positions herself across from a Haven Lion player in the center circle, waiting for the puck drop, eyes focused and lips pulled into a straight line. 

One of the referees skates over, puck in hand, and gets into position. 

He raises the puck, drops it, and the game starts. 

\--

The game goes into overtime. 

Weiss had managed to score a goal halfway through the second period, making it a tied game, the Lions’ having scored a singular point at the end of the first period and failed to gain any since. 

Blake, Ruby, and Coco are out on the ice for overtime, and Velvet was swapped out for Nora to man the net.

Coco passes the puck to Ruby, and Ruby manages to break away from the rest of the group in a mad dash to the Lions’ net. Ruby goes to make a shot on the net, but it’s just barely deflected by the Lions’ goalkeeper. 

Right into Blake’s stick. 

Blake doesn’t hesitate to make the shot, and Yang can’t help the ecstatic yell that is ripped from her throat when she sees the puck hit the back of the net. 

Blake Belladonna had scored against her former teammates without a care in the world. 

Yang is quick to join Pyrrha in jumping over the wall separating the player’s bench and the ice, eager to join their teammates in the end of the game celly. 

The Wyverns were going to the Vytal Cup finals. 

\--

The Wyverns are set to play the Atlas Sabyrs in the finals. 

The Sabyrs had been virtually undefeated for _years_ , and weren’t showing any signs of letting their near perfect record change any time soon. 

However, when the final matches of the Vytal Cup come around, the Wyverns manage to win three of the six games they play, with the seventh and final game set to be played that Friday. 

Blake gets a call from her parents late Thursday night, while she and Yang are relaxing in Blake’s apartment, little Gambol Shroud purring contently between them. 

They both jump slightly when Blake's phone rings, startled out of their quiet peace. 

Blake leans forward and scoops her phone off of her coffee table, settling back down firmly against Yang's side as she hits the answer button.

"Hello?"

Yang faintly hears Kali's voice, smiling slightly at the excitement she can barely hear in the older women's voice.

Gambol stands from Blake's lap, stretching and jumping down from the couch, disappearing into Blake's kitchen. Blake barely notices her disappearance, shifting the hand that had been stroking her cat to settle down on Yang’s knee. 

"You and dad are coming to the game tomorrow?"

Blake's mouth twitches up into a smile, and Yang kisses the side of her jaw, whispering into her ear. "Tai's going to the game."

"Then it looks like our parents will be meeting each other." Blake whispers back, trying to keep quiet, but Kali's good hearing picks up their voices.

"Sweetie, who are you talking to?"

"My girlfriend."

Blake doesn't hesitate to respond, and Yang kisses her cheek, tucking her face into the side of Blake's neck.

Yang struggles to hear Kali even more from her new position, her voice nothing more than muffled noises to Yang's ears. 

"You remember Yang?" Blake runs her hand up and down Yang's thigh, tilting her head to press her cheek into her girlfriend's blonde hair. 

"Yeah," Blake said, fingers shifting to draw circles onto the material of Yang's pants. "We started dating a couple of months ago."

Yang tunes out the rest of their conversation, slowly falling asleep against Blake's side, comforted by the sound of Blake’s voice and the warmth around her.

She barely notices Blake saying goodbye to her mother and ending the calling, phone thudding softly against the couch cushions as the faunus sets it down.

"You're not falling asleep on me now, are you?"

Yang smiles, eyes closed, leaning into the palm gently pressed against her cheek, smoothing strands of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Come on, let's get you to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow."

\--

The locker room is tense and quiet the next day before warm-ups, everyone getting ready to go out onto the ice in nervous silence.

This was the last game they would be playing for the season, the final match for the Vytal Cup.

If they lost, they'd just have to try harder next year.

But if they won, it would be the first time the Wyverns had won the cup in nearly fifteen years. 

If they won, they'd be Vytal Cup winners, a first in all of their careers.

Through all the nerves and all the uncertainties, only one thing was certain that night.

The Wyverns weren't going to go down without a fight.

\--

The final game of the Vytal Cup is being played on Wyvern home ice.

Despite her nerves, Yang can't help but smile at the large amount of green and black in the stands, drowning out the blue and white of their opponent's supporters. 

Even warm-ups are quiet, and Yang can already feel the stress of the upcoming game sleep into her bones.

This was it, their final moments of peace before the game. 

Less than forty-five minutes to game start, less than forty-five minutes before their final fight for the Vytal Cup.

Yang had never felt more nervous for a game in her life.

\--

Blake quickly drags Yang down for a good luck kiss right before the start of the game. 

“I love you.” Blake mumbles against her lips, fingers tightly gripping the collar of her jersey. 

Yang kisses her softly. “I love you too.”

Blake grabs her hand right before they step out onto the ice, squeezing. 

Yang squeezes back, and together, they step out onto the ice.

This was it, no turning back now. 

The final game for the Vytal Cup, had just begun. 

\--

The Sabyrs are notoriously undefeated for a reason. 

But even the most formidable armies have their weaknesses, and it’s these weaknesses that the Wyverns find and exploit to remain on equal fighting ground. 

One of their defensemen is big and intimidating, but she’s a slower skater and is no match for Ruby’s sheer speed on the ice. She can’t catch Ruby when she escapes from the group with the puck, and the buzzer sounds seconds later at the flutter of the net. 

Sometimes players make a bad play, it happens to the best of them, but when the Sabyrs slip up halfway through the third period, Weiss doesn’t hesitate and the Wyverns tie the Sabyrs 2-2.

They’re still tied by the time the third period ends, and Glynda is forced to decide who to send out onto the ice to play overtime. 

She pulls Yang off the ice and replaces her with Coco, and keeps Blake, Weiss, and Ruby out to play. 

Yang bumps her helmet gently with Blake’s right before overtime starts, smiling softly at her. “Good luck.”

Blake squeezes her hand, nudging their helmets together again before skating off, giving her one last glance before getting into her face off position. 

Yang settles down onto the bench beside Velvet, and the goalie settles a hand down onto her shoulder. “They’ll be okay.”

“I know. I just can’t help but be nervous.”

Velvet hums, nodding, turning her head to watch the puck drop, eyes locking on Coco.

“That’s something you and I can both agree on.”

\--

Yang's breath hitches in her throat as she sees Ruby tear away from the group with the puck.

The Sabyrs' defensemen break away to follow her, and one of them crosses the blue line before Ruby, but Blake is right behind them, setting herself up for a pass.

Yang's vision tunnels as Ruby passes the puck to Blake, the crowd becoming nothing more than white noise behind her as Blake lifts her stick, heart thudding impossibly loud in her chest.

Blake shoots.

And she scores.

\--

The sound of the buzzer and the roar of the crowd mean nothing to Yang as she vaults over the bench wall.

Ruby, being the closest, had already flung herself at Blake. Weiss reaches her next, curling up underneath their arms, bracing herself slightly when Pyrrha and Coco join in. 

Pyrrha looks back behind herself at the sound of skates approaching her, nudging Coco slightly, and they part their arms to allow Yang to worm her way between them.

Weiss and Ruby let her pass, and Yang throws her arms around Blake. Their bodies shake slightly against each other as the rest of the team join in the celly, and Blake's helmet slips and gets knocked off her head, and Yang is suddenly brought back to the Wyverns’ game against the Lions’ all those months ago. 

Blake had taken her breath away back then, and she didn't fail to do it again. 

She’s so much different from last season, but then again, both of them are. Blake’s hair is shorter now, her eyes bearing no malice, her face relaxed and smiling.

She’s free, happy, _herself_.

Yang is barely conscious of the hand pulling away from Blake to remove her own helmet, lilac locked with gold. 

Blake gives her a quizzical look, but Yang just keeps on smiling, leaning forward, and kissing Blake. 

She doesn’t care that they’re surrounded by their teammates, in front of hundreds of people, _live on tv_.

They’re both here, and they’re happy, they’re together, and Yang loves her.

So Yang kisses her, in front of everyone.

\--

Their teammates’ groans are drowned out by the sudden increase of cheering and whistling in the crowd, and Yang smiles against Blake’s lips. 

“I love you.” 

Blake drags her back down against her lips, smiling, uncaring of who sees them.

“I love you too.”

The Wyverns, had won the Vytal cup.

\--

Yang wakes up the next morning slightly hungover, naked, and in the arms of the woman she loves.

Blake groans tiredly when Yang shifts beside her, curling her arms more firmly around the blonde's torso.

"Stop moving…"

Yang blearily blinks her eyes open, glancing around her bedroom, absentmindedly rubbing Blake's back soothingly.

Their phones are on the bedside table, but only one of them is plugged in. The electronic clock beside her lamp blinks 9:23 am back at her. Yang can see the clothes they were wearing last night strewn about her room.

She cuddles closer to Blake, intent on going back to sleep, but the world seems to have other plans for her.

Yang's phone rings, and Blake sighs, ears flicking, pressing her face into Yang's bare chest, mumbling against her skin. "Answer your phone…"

Yang unplugged her phone, giving one glance at the caller id before hitting the accept button. "Morning Ruby."

Ruby's hyper, even at 9:30 in the morning, and Blake decidedly gives up on sleeping, sighing heavily and blinking her eyes open.

"What's happening?"

Yang kisses her forehead, nuzzling her hair. "Pyrrha invited us all out for breakfast."

"It's that nice place on 6th street! She offered to pay for everyone." Ruby chimes in helpfully.

Blake's ears shoot up. "We're going."

Yang snorts, rolling her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't pass up free food."

"They have smoked salmon bagels. We're going."

Blake smiled sweetly up at her, and Yang leaned her face back towards the phone.

"We'll be there."

\--

They stop by Blake's apartment so she can feed Gambol and change into fresh clothes.

Yang scrolls through her phone while she waits for Blake, whistling at the sheer amount of notifications she had.

"Blake, sweetheart, I think we broke the internet."

Blake tilts her head quizzically at her, and then pulls her own phone out of her pocket, eyes widening. 

Yang can't count how many times she sees the video of her and Blake kissing, the comments and tweets flooding her mentions.

Yang's eyes snap up to the top of her screen, a notification from Blake's rarely used Twitter account, a new tweet amongst the onslaught she's already experiencing.

'I love my girlfriend'

Yang laughs, smiling at Blake and leaning over to kiss her.

"I love you too."

\--

"Would you look at that, it's the couple of the hour."

Yang rolled her eyes, sitting down on the chair beside Pyrrha, smiling when Blake's arm wrapped around her waist. 

"Good morning to you too Nora." Blake replied, shaking her head at the team's shortest player.

The waitress came over and took their drink orders, and a couple of minutes later the whole team had steaming cups in their hands.

"So," Weiss started, taking a swig of her coffee. "Does anyone want to explain the unholy amount of pictures on my phone from last night?"

"Nope."

"It was you, wasn't it Nora?"

"Yep."

The group shared a laugh at that, shaking their heads fondly.

"It's been one hell of a season." Coco said, swirling her mug around in her hand. "Never thought that one day we'd actually be Vytal Cup champions."

"But that's what they always say, right?" Ruby piped up. "Expect the unexpected."

"Yeah." Blake whispered breathlessly, and when Yang looked over at her, Blake was gazing at her softly with the happiest little smile on her face.

When Blake had joined the team, Yang had never expected that this perfect, amazing woman would steal her heart, but you know what they say.

Always expect the unexpected.

\--

"You know, I always used to think that the ice was home."

Blake looked up and over at her, ears flicking curiously. "What changed your mind?"

"You." Yang said instantly, because she knew in her heart that it was true. "I used to think that the ice was home until I met you."

Yang reached out and brushed a stray strand of short black hair behind Blake's ear, kissing her sweetly.

"I met you and realized you were home." Yang whispered against her lips, and Blake kissed her again. 

"You know," Blake started, rubbing Yang's cheeks gently. "If you had told me that last season I probably would've thought you were insane."

"But current you doesn't?"

"Not at all." Blake smiled down at her loving, kissing her sweetly. 

“You’re my home too.”

Home.

The ice had always been home to Yang, a constant source of comfort for her in a world of change, but she had changed so much over the years, and the ice had changed with her. 

But maybe change wasn’t so bad, now that Blake was by her side. 

**Author's Note:**

> stan hockey bees for good health
> 
> Twitter : JacksonCalico  
> Tumblr : calicojackson576


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